Is there a way to view active modem on the LAN

[ianbla]

As part of our security policy, nobody should be connected to a customer system via a modem whilst on the LAN, is there any way to enforce this?

Also, is there any way to view any active modems that could be on the LAN?

cheers
Ian.

 

[Psychoid]

Hi.
I can't really think of any way of doing that.

Your best bet to prevent this would be:
1. create an organizational policy forbidding the use of modems
2. If the policy already exists, make the users aware of it again
3. Disconnnect any POTS/analog lines, making sure to leave the fax lines intact
4. If you don't know where all the POTS/analog lines are, you're in a world of hurt. You could go to the building Demarc and see where the lines are cross-connected to, but I'm sure you have more important things to do with your time. If you have a PBX and can get into it, you can look to see if it's set up to provide analog lines & where they are.

Other than that, you're flapping in the wind

------------
Bill
Consultant / Network Engineer
CNE, CCNA

 

[pansophic]

If you are looking for a purely technical solution, then you can purchase a "telephony firewall" like SecureLogix's TeleWall, or Sentry Telecom's PhoneWall. I personally feel that these are rather expensive solutions, but they are highly effective.

Also, I believe that ISS's Internet Scanner has a module for checking to see if your Windows PCs have a modem installed. Wouldn't get you to whether or not the modem is in use, but it would certainly narrow your search. You could potentially isolate this test, and write a script to check just for that.

If you can read a remote machine's registry, then it should be possible to detect. Unless they are using a Java app to communicate with the modem. It is possible to communicate with hardware controller-based modems in Java without having OS drivers installed.

But I have to agree with Bill, you are probably far better off using a written policy and spot checking. Set your call duration alarm (if your PBX supports them) relativley low, and check out any calls that alert (data calls are generally significantly longer than voice calls). You will have to make an example of someone, like forcing leave without pay to the first violator.
pansophic

 

[PcLinuxGuru]

Better yet take the modems away. Visit

http://www.pcbench.homelinux.net:81/