Posted 10:00 AM

A Policy for Policies?

Policies were introduced to networks so that administrators could apply rules to groups of users rather than having to implement each rule one-on-one with each affected user. Policies saved a great deal of time. But, as my Network World colleague Jim Kobielus points out this week, the sheer volume of policies is threatening to render them useless as a security safeguard. In his column "Prioritized policy routing needed", Kobielus urges adaptation of a standardized Message Oriented MiddleWare (MOM) protocol for networks and especially for web services, before the entire thing bogs down and we have to revert to armies of clerks implementing hundreds of rules for thousands of users on a one-on-one basis. Keep your eye on this, I'm sure there will be at least three competing proposals for a "standard" before the year is out! (I say with tongue only slightly in cheek!)