Security Modes

The switch support three security modes:

Enhanced secure
Hsecure
SSH secure

Enable SSH secure mode to allow only SSH to be used and disable all other protocols which include Telnet, FTP, SNMP, TFTP, HTTP, and HTTPS. Enabling this mode disables Telnet, FTP, SNMP, TFTP, HTTP, and HTTPS by setting the boot flags for these protocols to off. You can over-ride the configuration and enable required protocols individually for run-time use. The administrator must enable required protocols individually for run-time use again following a reboot even if you save the configuration. This is because the SSH secure mode enable takes precedence at the time of reboot and the other protocols will be disabled even though the configuration file has them set to enabled.

Note

Disabling SSH secure mode will not automatically enable the OA&M protocols that were disabled. The boot flags for the required protocols will have to be individually set to enabled.

The following table lists the differences between enhanced secure mode and hsecure mode.

Table 1. Enhanced secure mode versus hsecure mode
Feature	Enhanced secure	Hsecure
Authentication	Role-based: admin privilege operator security auditor	Access-level based: rwa rw ro l3 l2 l1
Password length	Minimum of 8 characters with the exception of the Admin, which requires a minimum of 15 characters	10 characters, minimum
Password rules	1 or 2 upper case, lower case, numeric and special characters	Minimum of 2 upper case, 2 lower case, 2 numeric and 2 special characters
Password expiration	Per-user minimum change interval is enforced, which is programmed by the Administrator	Global expiration, configured by the Admin
Password-unique	Previous passwords and common passwords between users are prevented	The same
Password renewal	Automatic password renewal is enforced	The same
Audit logs	Audit logs are encrypted, and authorized users are able to view, modify, and delete.	Standard operation
SNMPv3	Password rules apply to SNMPv3 Auth&Priv. SNMPv3 is required (V1/V2 disabled)	SNMPv1 and SNMPv2 can be enabled.
EDM	Site Admin to enable or disable	Disabled
Telnet and FTP	Site Admin to enable or disable	The same
DOS attack Prevention	Not available	Prevents DOS attacks by filtering IP addresses and IP address ranges.

For information on Enhanced secure mode and SSH, see Enhanced Secure Mode.