Hypergrid Security - Revision history

Tampa at 20:43, 8 April 2025

2025-04-08T20:43:44Z

Eekee: Added mention of modified viewers to section: CopyBots

2018-08-06T12:50:38Z

Added mention of modified viewers to section: CopyBots

Justincc: Remove webclient section - it's not relevant as security is enforced by capabilities so you can't simply point your web browser at an URL

2014-05-07T22:03:53Z

Remove webclient section - it's not relevant as security is enforced by capabilities so you can't simply point your web browser at an URL

Justincc: /* Discussion */

2014-05-07T22:03:15Z

‎Discussion

Justincc: /* Tasks */

2014-05-07T21:32:40Z

‎Tasks

Justincc: /* Tasks */

2014-05-07T21:30:00Z

‎Tasks

Justincc at 19:11, 7 May 2014

2014-05-07T19:11:50Z

Justincc: /* Tasks */

2014-05-07T19:03:06Z

‎Tasks

Justincc: /* Prevent local users travelling to foreign destinations */

2014-05-07T18:59:37Z

‎Prevent local users travelling to foreign destinations

Justincc: /* Tasks */

2014-05-07T18:58:59Z

‎Tasks

← Older revision		Revision as of 20:43, 8 April 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
−	{{Quicklinks}}	+	{{Quicklinks\|Hypergrid Security}}
	<br />		<br />

@@ Line 61: / Line 61: @@
 === CopyBots ===
-Everyone knows about the infamous [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CopyBot CopyBot]. Using libraries such as [http://www.libsecondlife.org/wiki/Main_Page LibSL] (now known as OpenMetaverse) it is possible to develop clients for opensim servers that do unorthodox things such as bypassing the permissions system to copy people's assets. Bots written by griefers can do lots of other nasty things.
+Everyone knows about the infamous [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CopyBot CopyBot]. Using libraries such as [http://www.libsecondlife.org/wiki/Main_Page LibSL] (now known as OpenMetaverse), or by modifying existing viewers, it is possible to develop clients for opensim servers that do unorthodox things such as bypassing the permissions system to copy people's assets. Bots written by griefers can do lots of other nasty things.
 Malicious bots are a problem for all opensim administrators, including walled-garden grids. They can be prevented, to a certain extent, by exo-technical solutions such as Terms of Service and real-world lawsuits. Technically speaking, the only way to keep intruders out is to run opensim inside a firewall, pretty much like all other pieces of client/server software out there. If that's an acceptable solution for your case, you should do it.
-Unfortunately firewalls also keep the public out, and most opensim operators, even the ones running walled-garden grids, want to reach out to the public. In this case, opensim operators may develop additional technical obstacles for bots, similar to those we see on the Web. For example, make sure agents are being run by real people by giving them a human-challenge during the login/TP process, etc.
+Unfortunately firewalls also keep the public out, and most opensim operators, even the ones running walled-garden grids, want to reach out to the public. In this case, opensim operators may develop additional technical obstacles for bots, similar to those we see on the Web. For example, make sure agents are being run by real people by giving them a human-challenge during the login/TP process, etc. (This will only deter bots, not modified viewers which are operated by human beings.)
 Every obstacle to malicious clients lowers the risk of an intruder attack. However keep this in mind: no matter how many obstacles one builds, a sufficiently skilled and motivated attacker will be able to overcome them to penetrate opensims connected to the public internet. This affects hypergrid nodes as much as walled-garden grids. In fact, it's more pervasive than that: it affects '''all''' servers (opensim, web, etc.) connected to the public internet. Fighting malicious intruders is a fact of a connected world. Fortunately, those attacks don't happen very often, or the Web would have been dead by now.

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:03, 7 May 2014
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	Every obstacle to malicious clients lowers the risk of an intruder attack. However keep this in mind: no matter how many obstacles one builds, a sufficiently skilled and motivated attacker will be able to overcome them to penetrate opensims connected to the public internet. This affects hypergrid nodes as much as walled-garden grids. In fact, it's more pervasive than that: it affects '''all''' servers (opensim, web, etc.) connected to the public internet. Fighting malicious intruders is a fact of a connected world. Fortunately, those attacks don't happen very often, or the Web would have been dead by now.		Every obstacle to malicious clients lowers the risk of an intruder attack. However keep this in mind: no matter how many obstacles one builds, a sufficiently skilled and motivated attacker will be able to overcome them to penetrate opensims connected to the public internet. This affects hypergrid nodes as much as walled-garden grids. In fact, it's more pervasive than that: it affects '''all''' servers (opensim, web, etc.) connected to the public internet. Fighting malicious intruders is a fact of a connected world. Fortunately, those attacks don't happen very often, or the Web would have been dead by now.
−
−	~~=== Web Clients ===~~
−
−	CopyBots are the most well-known bots for opensim-based virtual worlds, but these virtual worlds are also susceptible to attacks by regular web clients. With the current state of things, it is actually easier to copy assets with a web-based client than with a libsl-based one. The weakness is that asset servers are connected to the public internet, and the protocol for interacting with them is public.
−
−	OpenSimulator has some minimal guards in place to fence against these kinds of attacks. Specifically, when the inventory server receives a request for an item, it checks the session identifier of the requester. Web clients aren't logged in, so they are refused service. I don't want to expand much more on this, so not to make life easy for attackers, but let's just say that opensim has the necessary mechanisms in place to fence off web-based attackers.

	== Malicious Hosts ==		== Malicious Hosts ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 22:03, 7 May 2014
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	= Discussion =		= Discussion =
		+
		+	'''Please note that this is a historical discussion about content in the Hypergrid rather than about security issues per se.'''

	There is a wide-spread assumption that open grids such as OSGrid and new forms of grids such as the hypergrid are inherently insecure, and that it will be impossible to develop a "goods-based" economy on top of them; only walled-gardens can be secured. This is both true and false. While it is true with the current state of things, open grids, whatever their form, can be made as secure as the web. The first step towards that is to define exactly what the security threats are, and how they affect (or not) open and closed grids. So, let's spell them out, and face them head-on. This will help put our feet on the ground so that we start developing appropriate solutions.		There is a wide-spread assumption that open grids such as OSGrid and new forms of grids such as the hypergrid are inherently insecure, and that it will be impossible to develop a "goods-based" economy on top of them; only walled-gardens can be secured. This is both true and false. While it is true with the current state of things, open grids, whatever their form, can be made as secure as the web. The first step towards that is to define exactly what the security threats are, and how they affect (or not) open and closed grids. So, let's spell them out, and face them head-on. This will help put our feet on the ground so that we start developing appropriate solutions.

← Older revision		Revision as of 21:32, 7 May 2014
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	This setting should theoretically still allow external users to visit the installation.		This setting should theoretically still allow external users to visit the installation.
		+
		+	== Prevent users at a given UserLevel from travelling to foreign destinations ==
		+
		+	This is done per user level. For instance, to prevent ordinary (UserLevel 0) local users from going to foreign destinations, set
		+
		+	<source lang="ini">
		+	[UserAgentService]
		+	ForeignTripsAllowed_Level_0 = false
		+	</source>
		+
		+	You can also whitelist certain destinations for users that otherwise cannot travel, or blacklist others for users who can otherwise travel anywhere. See [[Hypergrid_Parameters]] for more details.

	== Prevent foreign users from accessing the simulator ==		== Prevent foreign users from accessing the simulator ==

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 This task text is in development and currently should not be relied upon without direct testing.
-== Prevent local users from travelling to foreign destinations ==
+== Prevent local users from resolving Hypergrid URLs to foreign destinations ==
 Set

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:11, 7 May 2014
Line 22:		Line 22:

	This setting should theoretically still allow external users to visit the installation.		This setting should theoretically still allow external users to visit the installation.
		+
		+	== Prevent foreign users from accessing the simulator ==
		+
		+	Set
		+
		+	<source lang="ini">
		+	[GatekeeperService]
		+	ForeignAgentsAllowed = false
		+	</source>
		+
		+	This should still allow local users to teleport to foreign climes.
		+
		+	One can also whitelist or blacklist all agents from specific source simulators with the AllowExcept and DisallowExcept parameters. See [[Hypergrid_Parameters]] for more details.

	== Ban specific foreign users ==		== Ban specific foreign users ==

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:03, 7 May 2014
Line 22:		Line 22:

	This setting should theoretically still allow external users to visit the installation.		This setting should theoretically still allow external users to visit the installation.
		+
		+	== Ban specific foreign users ==
		+
		+	See [[Banning Foreign Users in Hypergrid]].

	= Discussion =		= Discussion =

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 This task text is in development and currently should not be relied upon without direct testing.
-== Prevent local users travelling to foreign destinations ==
+== Prevent local users from travelling to foreign destinations ==
 Set
@@ Line 20: / Line 20: @@
 This may not prevent users from teleporting via existing hyperlink bookmarks if hypergrid was previously enabled.
 = Discussion =

@@ Line 6: / Line 6: @@
 This task text is in development and currently should not be relied upon without direct testing.
-== Prevent local users travelling to foreign destinations via the main map ==
+== Prevent local users travelling to foreign destinations ==
-To prevent map lookups, set
+Set
 <source lang="ini">
@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 </source>
-Default is also source.  This may not prevent users from teleporting directly via other means (e.g. links through chat, existing hyperlink bookmarks if hypergrid was previously enabled).
+Default is also false.
 = Discussion =