* Dr. Internet columnist Steve Blass discusses running Tomcat to listen on standard SSL port * Help Desk columnist Ron Nutter discusses the safety of VPNs
* Running Tomcat to listen on standard SSL port
By Steve Blass
Q: I have a Web server running the Apache Web server and Apache Tomcat. The regular Apache Web server is used to forward SSL connections to Tomcat on Port 8443. Can I run Tomcat so that it will listen on the standard SSL port (443) along with the other ports it is listening on?
A: Tomcat can be configured to listen on SSL Port 443. Then you could turn off the SSL listener in the Apache Web server and use only Tomcat to handle your SSL connections.
To read Steve’s response in its entirety, please click here.
* How safe is a VPN?
By Ron Nutter
Q: I see a lot on the Internet about VPNs but very little explanation about what they are. A lot of hype about using them to gain privacy while connected through a public access point. Yet, I’ve not seen somebody talk directly about how secure they are or are not. Mostly what you see are the ads created by a company that wants you to use their product to access your company or your own desktop network to transfer files between your notebook and your desktop computer. I’m looking for more than that. I want to be able to connect to my bank, credit card, or other assorted companies to electronically transfer money to pay accounts while on the road. Will a VPN do this? Can I trust that everybody in the neighborhood will not have immediate access to all of my confidential data? I would appreciate your thoughts on this.
A: VPNs can be very secure if setup and used correctly. Most VPNs worth their salt use at least 3DES (pronounced triple DES) or AES as encryption of the traffic between your laptop and wherever the endpoint VPN device that you are connecting to. There are several options to access your company’s network or add security to a wireless connection while travelling.
To read Ron’s response in its entirety, please click here.
