Week of 8-23-10 Vimeo.

Description: Vimeo is a video-centric social networking site (owned by IAC/InterActiveCorp) which launched in November 2004. The site supports embedding, sharing, video storage, and user-commenting on each video page. Users must register to upload content. Registered users may also create a profile and upload small user pictures as their avatars, comment and "like" videos. Vimeo does not allow commercial videos, gaming videos, pornography, or anything not created by the user to be hosted on the site.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 2.1 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 7,609
Standard Ports: tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: Yes
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Media
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on Vimeo.

NewNet 66 comments: Vimeo has a very high risk level and is capable of consuming a lot of bandiwidth. During the last week there were more that 25 NewNet 66 school districts using this application.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 8-16-10 Playstation-Network.

Description: PlayStation Network, often abbreviated to PSN, is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service provided by Sony Computer Entertainment for use with the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Portable video game consoles, as well as PlayStation.com. As of January 8, 2008, there are 17 million active registered PlayStation Network accounts worldwide, with users having made 330 million downloads.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 9.7 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 4,171
Standard Ports: tcp/80,443
Capable of File Transfer: No
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Media
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on playstation-network.

NewNet 66 comments: Playstation is one of the more popular online games today. While playstation does not pose significant threats it does consume valuable bandwidth. Schools often allow the use of playstation during the summer months while school is not in session. Local school techs are trying to get workstations and servers updated before schools starts. What you don't want is school updates competing for bandwidth with playstation activity.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 8-9-10 ms-ds-smb.

Description: The Server Message Block (SMB) Protocol is a network file sharing protocol, and as implemented in Microsoft Windows is known as Microsoft SMB Protocol.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 195 Meg (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 163,973
Standard Ports: tcp/445,139, udp/445
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: No
Evasive: No
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Business-Systems
Technology: Storage-Backup

Additional information on ms-ds-smb.

NewNet 66 comments: If ms-ds-smb is being used for backup off site consider another protocol. There are significant exploites that us port 445. For the most part ms-ds-smb traffic should never be allowed to exit a school network destined for the Internet.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 8-2-10 rss.

Description: RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated digital content, such as blogs, news feeds or podcasts.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 2.9 Meg (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 115,214
Standard Ports: tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: Yes
Excessive Bandwidth Use: No
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: General Internet
Technology: Client-server

Additional information on rss.

NewNet 66 comments: RSS (Real Simple Syndication) feeds present opportunities for the bad guys to exploit users who use RSS. In the feeds there are often times links the bad guys insert into the feed pointing those who click to infected web sites. The infected site then downloads trojans and other exploits to the users workstation without the user knowing about it. RSS news readers are a very efficient way to vew a lot of news from many sources in a short period of time.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 7-26-10 imvu.

Description: MVU is a graphical instant messaging client with more than 1 million users. Currently, it is in public beta, and has been available since 2004-09-18. It is developed by IMVU, Inc., founded by Will Harvey, a video game developer and founder of There. The primary focus of IMVU is the ability to use personalized 3D avatars and environments that let the user interact with the person they are chatting with. The secondary focus of IMVU is allowing the members to develop content that can be purchased by other members for use in personalizing their avatars and environments..

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 522 Meg (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 4,404
Standard Ports: tcp/443, tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: No
Category: Collaboration
Technology: Client-server

Additional information on imvu.

NewNet 66 comments: While imvu is not widely used at this time it is capable of consuming valuable bandwidth and presents no educational value. imvu.com is known by the NewNet 66 content filter in the categories of Dating/Personals, Chat, and Games.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 7-19-10 adobe-update.

Description: Adobe Update is used for software updates to Adobe products including Acrobat, Flash, Creative Suite, etc.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 13.8 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 5,824
Standard Ports: tcp/443, tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Business-systems
Technology: Client-server

Additional information on Adobe-Update.

NewNet 66 comments: When you combine Adobe-updates, MS updates, and Apple updates being downloaded to update multiple workstations and servers bandwidth consumption can bring most Internet links to 100% utilization which could interfere with daily school business requiring Internet access. Updates should be done after hours or via an update server located on the local lan.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 7-12-10 Web-Crawler.

Description: web crawler (also known as a Web spider or Web robot) is a program or automated script which browses the World Wide Web in a methodical, automated manner..

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 9.1 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 64,260
Standard Ports: tcp/443, tcp/80, tcp/8080
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: Yes
Excessive Bandwidth Use: No
Evasive: No
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: General Internet
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on Web-Crawler.

NewNet 66 comments: While the web crawlers do pose some threat they do a good job for all of us who search the web. Web crawlers do report back to entities like Google and Yahoo information about web sites which is very useful. It is hard to imagine not having a Google in this day and age.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 7-5-10 Youtube-base.

Description: YouTube is a popular free video sharing website which lets users upload, view, and share video clips. Videos can be rated, and the average rating and the number of times a video has been watched are both published.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 42.1 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 13,999
Standard Ports: tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: Yes
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Media
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on Youtube.

NewNet 66 comments: . Youtube can consume valuable bandwidth so allowing this application at school can severely interrupt critical daily activities. While Youtube has some very good educational content it is important to remember that several workstations in a lab environment can fully consume a 3 meg Internet connection.
The PaloAlto Next Generation firewall breaks youtube into two sub-categories; YouTube-base and YouTube-Safety-Mode. (Safety mode allows schools to filter out objectionable content on the YouTube web site.)

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 6-28-10 iTunes.

Description: iTunes is a digital media player application, introduced by Apple Inc. on January 9, 2001, at the Macworld Expo in San Francisco. The application is used for playing and organizing digital music and video files. The program is also an interface to manage the contents on Apple's popular iPod digital media players as well as the iPhone. Additionally, iTunes can connect to the iTunes Store via the Internet to purchase and download music, music videos, television shows, iPod games, audiobooks, various podcasts, feature length films and Movie Rentals (available only in the USA, UK,Canada, Australia and New Zealand), and Ringtones (available only in the USA). Since July 11, 2008, there has also been the option to download apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch as long as they are running the 2.0 firmware released on the same date. iTunes is available as a free download for Mac OS X, Windows Vista, and Windows XP from Apple's website.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 28.2 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 22,726
Standard Ports: tcp/dynamic, udp/dynamic
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Media
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on ActiveSync.

NewNet 66 comments: . iTunes can consume valuable bandwidth so allowing this application at school can severely interrupt daily activities that are educationally related. The iTunes store does contain some very good free educational content so finding the balance between allowing this application and bandwidth consumption can be a difficult challenge.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 6-21-10 ActiveSync.

Description: ActiveSync is a data synchronization program developed by Microsoft for use with its Microsoft Windows line of operating systems. Originally released under the name "Handheld PC Explorer" in 1996, it provides users of Microsoft Windows a way to transport documents, calendars, contact lists and email between their desktop computer and a mobile device, such as a Handheld PC, mobile phone, or any other portable devices that support the ActiveSync protocol. ActiveSync is available as a free download from Microsoft's web site.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 40.5 Meg (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 13,153
Standard Ports: tcp/443, tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Business-Systems
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on ActiveSync.

NewNet 66 comments: . ActiveSync on the NewNet 66 network is primarily used for syncing mobile phones to Windows school workstations. With the smartphone market growing, activesync will become more popular.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 6-14-10 Live365.

Description: Live365 is an Internet radio web site where members can create their own online radio station or listen to other Live365 broadcasters' online stations.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 1.1 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 2,770
Standard Ports: tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 2 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: No
Category: Media
Technology: Audio-Streaming

Additional information on live365.

NewNet 66 comments: . Live 365 can bring bandwidth consumption to maximum if multiple workstations are streaming music. For example: If a lab of 15 workstations are using live365 simultaneously, a 3 meg Internet connection will become saturated.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 6-7-10 Photobucket.

Description: Photobucket is an image hosting, video hosting, slideshow creation and photo sharing website. It was founded in 2003 by Alex Welch and Darren Crystal and received funding from Trinity Ventures. It was acquired by Fox Interactive Media in 2007. Photobucket is usually used for personal photographic albums, remote storage of avatars displayed on internet forums, and storage of videos. Photobucket's image hosting is often used for eBay, MySpace (now a corporate cousin), Bebo, Neopets and Facebook accounts, LiveJournals or other blogs, and message boards. Users may keep their albums private, allow password-protected guest access, or open them to the public. Photobucket advertises 99.9% uptime, and offers 1 GB free storage (5 GB with paid PRO account), 25 GB (Dropped from 100gb to 25gb on July 2008) free monthly bandwidth. Windows XP Publisher is supported as an alternative to FTP. It is available in free accounts. (unlimited with paid account).

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 1.8 Megs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 38,517
Standard Ports: tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: No
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: No
Category: Media
Technology: Browser-based

Additional information on photobucket.

NewNet 66 comments: photobucket. Photobucket can be a bandwidth hog interfering with routine educational activities like email and recording student information.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 5-31-10 xbox-live.

Description: Xbox Live (trademarked as Xbox LIVE) is an online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery service created and operated by Microsoft Corporation. It was first made available to the Xbox video game console. An updated version of the service became available for the Xbox 360 console at that system's launch. The Windows Equivalent is Games for Windows - Live that makes certain aspects of the system available on Windows PCs, with plans to extend Live to other platforms such as handhelds and mobile phones as part of the Live Anywhere initiative. Xbox Live service uses UDP port 88 as standard port for Kerberos-Sec in default configuration.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 368 Megs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 24,397
Standard Ports: tcp/3074, udp/88,3074
Capable of File Transfer: No
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: No
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Media
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on xbox-live.

NewNet 66 comments: xbox-live. Since xbox uses non-standard ports to access the Internet outbound firewall policies must be adjusted to allow xbox-live to work. This is often done during the summer months at school districts. However; risks still apply even though school is not in sessions.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 5-24-10 mypsace-IM.

Description: MySpaceIM is the official instant messaging client for the social networking site, MySpace.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 616 Megs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 24,149
Standard Ports: tcp/dynamic
Capable of File Transfer: No
Used by Malware: Yes
Excessive Bandwidth Use: No
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: No
Category: Collaboration
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on Myspace-IM.

NewNet 66 comments: Myspace-IM. As with any chat application is should not be used at school by students unless it can be archived like email.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 5-17-10 Flash.

Description: Flash is commonly used to create animation, advertisements, and various web page components, to integrate video into web pages, and more recently, to develop rich Internet applications. The Adobe Flash Professional multimedia authoring program is used to create content for the Adobe Engagement Platform, such as web applications, games and movies, and content for mobile phones and other embedded devices. Files in the SWF format, traditionally called "ShockWave Flash" movies, "Flash movies" or "Flash games", usually have a .swf file extension and may be an object of a web page, strictly "played" in a standalone Flash Player, or incorporated into a Projector, a self-executing Flash movie (with the .exe extension in Microsoft Windows). Flash Video (FLV) files have a .flv file extension and are either used from within .swf files or played through a flv aware player, such as VLC, or QuickTime and Windows Media Player with external codecs added.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 582 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 2,066,234
Standard Ports: tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: No
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: No
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: General-Internet
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on Flash.

NewNet 66 comments: Flash will consume valuable bandwidth since it is used during almost all Internet browsing activities. When users check the news sites like CNN or Fox News flash is used to play news videos.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 5-17-20 Teachertube.

Description: TeacherTube is a video sharing website similar to YouTube. It is designed to allow those in the educational industry, particularly teachers, to share educational resources such as video, audio, documents, photos, groups and blogs. The site contains a mixture of classroom teaching resources and others designed to aid teacher training.

A number of students have also uploaded videos that they have made as part of K-12 and college courses. As of July 2008, the website contained over 26,000 videos. Now as of March 2010, TeacherTube has over 525,000+ educational members and over 200,000 educational videos. It has found favour with educators for whom YouTube content is blocked by content filtering systems.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 32.4 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 2,532
Standard Ports: tcp/80
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: No
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Media
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on teachertube.

NewNet 66 comments: teachertube will consume valuable bandwidth if large files are transferred. One school district during this one week time frame downloaded 2.2 Gigs of data. Teachertube is a great alternative to youtube because it is educational only and provide a portal for educators and students to share ideas and information.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 5-10-10 megaupload.

Description: Megaupload is an application that allows users to upload files. The user is then supplied with a unique URL, which locates the file and enables anyone with whom the uploader shares it to download the file.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 3.5 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 561
Standard Ports: tcp/80, 89
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: General-Internet
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on megaupload.

NewNet 66 comments: Megauploads will consume valuable bandwidth if large files are transferred. Example: If a school user uploads a 100 MB file and the school has a 3 meg Internet connection the Internet could be slow during the upload. This also applies to the download of the file if it is shared with other school users.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 5-3-10. ms-updates

Description: Windows Update is a Control Panel applet found in recent versions of Microsoft Windows that provides updates for the operating system and related components, such as definition updates to the Windows Defender anti-spyware product and Junk Mail filter updates for Windows Mail.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 230.3 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 613,361
Standard Ports: tcp/80, 443
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: No
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Business-Systems
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on ms-updates.

NewNet 66 comments: ms-updates will consume valuable bandwidth but is necessary to keep workstations and servers secure. The challenge is to do updates after school business hours. If workstations are set to update during business hours the bandwidth consumption can interfere with student testing and other critical Internet based services. Use a Windows Update server (WSUS) if possible.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 4-26-10. stickam

Description: Stickam is a social networking website that features user-submitted pictures, audio, video, and most prominently, live webcam chat, a unique feature. Additionally, it allows users to embed their streaming webcam feeds into other web sites via a Flash player. Stickam is operated by Advanced Video Communications, Inc., an internet communications company founded in 2004. Due to the privacy concerns associated with webcam chat, Stickam requires users to state that they are at least 14 years old before signing up.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 5.5 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions: 23,267
Standard Ports: tcp/80, 1935
Capable of File Transfer: Yes
Used by Malware: Yes
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Evasive: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Category: Collaboration
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on stickam.

NewNet 66 comments: stickam, like youtube, and facebook, is a social networking site. There is a free iPhone application available so students will be able to access the site at any time if Internet access is available. This site can consume valuable bandwidth.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 4-19-10

Application of the Week. http-proxy

This week we look at http-proxy.

Description: http-proxy (not to be confused with bypass proxy) is a web server that caches web pages for delivery to the casual surfer. This is done to conserve bandwidth on some sites.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 37.5 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions this Week: 18,513
Standard Port: tcp/80,443,1080,3128,8000,8080
Used by Malware: Yes
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Excessive Bandwidth Use: No
Subcategory: proxy
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on http-proxy.

NewNet 66 comments: The most common use of a web proxy is to serve as a web cache. Most proxy programs provide a means to deny access to URLs specified in a blacklist, thus providing content filtering. This is often used in a corporate, educational or library environment, and anywhere else where content filtering is desired. Some web proxies reformat web pages for a specific purpose or audience, such as for cell phones and PDAs.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week Of 4-12-2010

Application of the Week. http-audio

This week we look at http-audio. (Streaming Audio)

Description: This application covers streaming audio used by many media players (e.g. Quicktime, Windows Media Player, Winamp, RealMedia), radio stations and other audio applications.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 100.1 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions this Week: 367,624
Standard Port: tcp/80
Used by Malware: Yes
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Subcategory: Audio-Streaming
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on http-audio.

NewNet 66 comments: http-audio covers a large range of downloads as indicated in the description. The main usage seems to be Internet Radio and podcasts by most NewNet 66 schools. This application can bring Internet connections to maximum.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week Of 4-5-2010

Application of the Week. smtp

This week we look at smtp. (Simple Mail Transport Protocol)

Description: Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is the de facto standard for e-mail transmissions across the Internet.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 95.5 Gigs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Number of Sessions this Week: 4,206,128
Standard Port: tcp/25
Used by Malware: Yes
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Excessive Bandwidth Use: No
Subcategory: Email
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on smtp.

NewNet 66 comments: SMTP (email) is the standard for email transmission across the Internet. SMTP poses great threat as it is used by the bad guys for sending exploits, spam, and phishing emails. While smtp is not generally bandwidth intensive, users who send large files like movies or multiple MP3 files can cause school bandwidht to rise to maximum while the large emails are downloaded.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 3-29-2010

Application of the Week. gnutella

This week we look at gnutella.

Description: Gnutella is a file sharing network. As of December 2005, Gnutella was the third-most-popular file sharing network on the Internet, following eDonkey 2000 and FastTrack. In June of 2005, Gnutella's population was 1.81 million computers. With the decline of Fasttrack and the emergence of Bittorrent, Gnutella is feasibly still firmly established as third-largest peer-to-peer network. There are many popular clients for Gnutella including Limewire, Morpheus, BearFlix, BearShare, Phex, Acquisition, and Shareaza.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 995 megs (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Standard Port: tcp/6346-6351, udp/6346-6351
Used by Malware: Yes
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Subcategory: Filesharing
Technology: Peer-To-Peer

Additional information on gnutella.

NewNet 66 comments: Gnutella , being peer-to-peer application, is very popular with students for music downloads. Since it uses non standard TCP and UDP ports, Gnutella is very easy to stop with a proper policy in the firewall. With a risk level of 5, gnutella will put school networks at risk.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Application of the Week. Bittorrent
Week of Spring Break!

Description: BitTorrent is a peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P) communications protocol. BitTorrent is a method of distributing large amounts of data widely without the original distributor incurring the entire costs of hardware, hosting and bandwidth resources. Instead, when data is distributed using the BitTorrent protocol, each recipient supplies pieces of the data to newer recipients, reducing the cost and burden on any given individual source, providing redundancy against system problems, and reducing dependence on the original distributor.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 33.1 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Standard Port: tcp/80 -tcp/443tcp/dynamic, udp/dynamic
Used by Malware: Yes
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Risk Level: 5 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Subcategory: Filesharing
Technology: Peer-To-Peer

Additional information on bittorrent.

NewNet 66 comments: Bittorrent , being peer-to-peer application, is very popular with students for music downloads. Since it uses tcp ports 80 and 443 traditional firewalls will not stop this application. Bittorrent is very bandwidth intensive and will consume valuable Internet link resources. With a risk level of 5, bittorrent will put schooll networks at risk.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 3-15-2010

Application of the Week. Grooveshark

Description: Grooveshark is a web-based music application built for anyone on the internet to listen to music on-demand at no charge. Users have the ability to listen to single songs from the 7-million song catalog, save playlists, and embed both on other websites, blogs, and social media profiles via the Grooveshark Widget.

Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 56.4 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Standard Port: tcp/80 -tcp/443
Used by Malware: No
Has Known Vulnerabilities: No
Risk Level: 3 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Subcategory: Audio-Streaming
Technology: Browser-Based

Additional information on Grooveshark.

NewNet 66 comments: Grooveshark ,being music based, is very popular with students. Since it uses tcp ports 80 and 443 traditional firewalls will not stop this application. Grooveshark is very bandwidth intensive and will consume valuable Internet link resources.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.

Week of 3-8-2010

Application of the Week. RTMP

Description: Real Time Messaging Protocol (RTMP) is a proprietary protocol developed by Adobe Systems (formerly developed by Macromedia) that is primarily used with Macromedia Flash Media Server to stream audio and video over the internet to the Adobe Flash Player client.
Bandwidth Consumed Last 7 days: 160.2 Gig (all NewNet 66 schools combined)
Standard Port: tcp/1935
Used by Malware: No
Has Known Vulnerabilities: Yes
Risk Level: 4 (based on 1-5 with 5 being the most risk)
Excessive Bandwidth Use: Yes
Subcategory: Photo-Video
Technology: Client-Server

Additional information on RTMP.

NewNet 66 comments: RTMP will show up in Firewall deny logs if your outbound policies do not allow tcp port 1935. Considering the fact tht RTMP consumed over 160 gigabytes of bandwidth during the last seven days this application can bring a school's Internet link to maximum.

This data is taken from the NewNet 66 PaloAlto Next Generation firewall.