I’ve been buying these little boxes from AliExpress for years to use as firewalls and routers. My oldest one is almost 9 years old now! OpenBSD installs just fine. Just a BIOS tweak to always boot up after power is restored.
That TP-link is a dumb switch. Unless you’re telling me that someone is going to find an opening in the firmware and hack their way into the ARP table or something (in which case the threat model here just became state actors and I don’t think the OP is safe with this equipment), I don’t think it affects much, if anything.
Now, if I’m mistaken and that is actually a managed switch; god help them with network security.
The problem is that their Web interface and firmware in general are not updated (at all). I think it’s even possible for script kiddies to hack into such managed switches, which forms the reasoning behind my comment.
Does your switch produce its Web interface over TLS?
Doesn’t look like it but if I get up VLANs unless an user is on the correct VLAN they can’t access the web interface. And the only way for them to get access is to get physical access and plug a device into the correct port.
They do make managed switches, but just to be completely clear, my comment was mostly hyperbole. I just found the general combination of security - mindedness and cheap Chinese hardware curious / amusing.
I did realise that, and apologies for my tone earlier.
With that said, this seems to be a slight bias - unless the PCB has some nefarious spy-chip built inside, hardware is hardware, regardless of where it comes from.
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That TP-link is a dumb switch. Unless you’re telling me that someone is going to find an opening in the firmware and hack their way into the ARP table or something (in which case the threat model here just became state actors and I don’t think the OP is safe with this equipment), I don’t think it affects much, if anything.
Now, if I’m mistaken and that is actually a managed switch; god help them with network security.
It is a managed switch. What’s wrong with TP-Link managed switches?
I have a basic Netgear managed switch for VLANs.
The problem is that their Web interface and firmware in general are not updated (at all). I think it’s even possible for script kiddies to hack into such managed switches, which forms the reasoning behind my comment.
Does your switch produce its Web interface over TLS?
Doesn’t look like it but if I get up VLANs unless an user is on the correct VLAN they can’t access the web interface. And the only way for them to get access is to get physical access and plug a device into the correct port.
They do make managed switches, but just to be completely clear, my comment was mostly hyperbole. I just found the general combination of security - mindedness and cheap Chinese hardware curious / amusing.
I did realise that, and apologies for my tone earlier.
With that said, this seems to be a slight bias - unless the PCB has some nefarious spy-chip built inside, hardware is hardware, regardless of where it comes from.