chatting plugin on company intranet

  • I am thinking of using a chat plugin on my company’s intranet but am wondering of the risks. Most plugins state that you must go to their site and register and their servers handle the workload. Does that not pose a security risk to my company’s servers? Does anyone know of a chat plugin that does not do this but can allow users to have a private or one-on-one chat? Any help is appreciated, thanks!

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  • If you are planning an intranet site only, any plugin that opens a connection/communicates to the WAN holds the potential to present certain security risks to your infrastructure. Review your ideas and concerns with your IT department, and ask their advice and guidance before you proceed. You may also want to investigate something like a core control plugin, so that once your site is up and running, you can control and minimize the necessity for connections outside of your own network. Let your IT staff know what your concerns are. They should be able to guide you in making sure that you are in compliance with your company policies, and more likely than not, they will appreciate that you are actively aware of, and also concerned with, the potential for any negative impacts on your organization.

    Best of luck to you!

    Thread Starter xmatter

    (@xmatter)

    I appreciate your well thought out response, and will take full use of it. The question is… even if the intranet (server) is behind our firewall and there is a chat client operating on the outside, is security still at risk? Even the weather widgets go to the outside to get the current weather and post it within the firewall.

    Think of connecting to the outside world as if you were intentionally opening the front door of your own house. If you open the door to shout at a bunch of kids throwing a baseball against the side of your house, as long as the door is open, they can throw the baseball and hit you in the face. The door is like the firewall – if you open it from the inside, you become exposed to whatever is outside, for as long as you keep the door open. If you open that door to a chat client/service that operates from a third party server, you assume the risk of encountering things not normally present inside of your own network. I think it might be the two-way communications ( as in chat clients/servers ) you might need to be cautious with.

    …just my amateur opinion, mind you. You may want to consult your local IT guys for expert advice and actual facts! ( Take ’em some donuts. I hear they love donuts! …but not the powdered sugar ones – they really do suck… I mean, umm.. I hear they aren’t all that great. So, spring for the good ones! )

    ??

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