Telnet question ?

[spraky]

Have a handy little unit, think it's this one,
http://exemys.com.ar/beta/english/pr...Be/index.shtml
I have given it a fixed ip, and have port forwarded port 23 on my router to point to this unit.
I have it wired up, to switch on/off my heating system etc.
I have a telnet app on my iphone and iPad and macro's set up, so I push a button on either of them and it tells my boiler "switch on".
All works perfectly, but my question is.
How "dodgy" is it to have port 23 open on my router, or is there a better way?

[Tim.Lad]

Depends if the port is stealth and you use a good strong password then yes

[spraky]

Depends if the port is stealth and you use a good strong password then yes

What's the stealth part m8.
I presume by password, you mean the router admin password.

[Modcoms]

can you not change the port on the unit and give it a harder one to guess
at work we use 8080 for routers web interface and 33 for telnet

[Tim.Lad]

What's the stealth part m8.
I presume by password, you mean the router admin password.

No the password to the telnet session on the device

[spraky]

Just so there is no confusion, cos I'm no expert on networking. I'm not worried about anyone actually switching on/off my equipment, I am just concerned about security of my pc and laptop which are on the network.

[BertRoot]

Don't use 23, It is a standard port and one of the first to be attacked. Just change the port and try that. Can you not SSH to the device?

[spraky]

I don't see any option to change port number on the unit.

[Over Carl]

If your router supports Port Address Forwarding, you can change the port you access it externally from there.

[tonys]

I wouldnt regard changing the port as a security measure, if someone is going to scan your router then all protocols on all ports will be made aware to the hacker.

You also have to trust your router to do the job it is intended to do, what i mean is that if you set it to forward port 23 to the control device then that is what it will do. The big question mark to me would be the security of the control device, are there any vulnerabilities, does anyone actually check for them? This sort of stuff.

To answer your question of is it a no no to have 23 open. Not really, just make sure the device hosting the telnet service is a secure as you can possibly make it.

[spraky]

Thanks, I guess I'll leave it alone then, as it works perfectly as it is.
The router is an Apple Airport extreme, so hopefully that's "half decent".
I'll set a good password on the control device.

[Geezah]

I assume your boiler switch controler has a MAC address, so lock down your router to only accept connections from listed MAC's