15.2 DSL-Specific Security Advantages

DSL access provides two specific security advantages over other mass broadband access technologies:

DSL provides a point-to-point connection over dedicated copper facilities between the users premises and the telephone company switching office or remote site. Other users in the neighborhood do not share transmission resources, and it is not possible for one DSL user to access the signal for a second user . This is contrasted with the situation for both cable modem and fixed wireless broadband access where other users, or malicious actors, have physical access to signals meant for others over the shared media of hybrid fiber COAX (for cable) or fixed wireless transmission. Unauthorized reception , masquerade, and theft of service are thus much more difficult in a DSL environment than either of the other mass broadband technologies.
ATM-based DSL architectures also provide one or more VCs dedicated to each customer over the DSL physical connection. These connections extend from the customer's premises through the access network to the edge of either the public Internet or the private networks which are accessed via the DSL connection. The existence of the separate VCs makes unauthorized monitoring, or access to the communications more difficult than in environments where only connectionless protocols such as TCP/IP are utilized. Additionally the use of VCs allow the creation of specific paths for security and management information sent between a service provider and particular user protecting any remote configuration of equipment at the user's premises. Dedicated VCs can also be used to provide secure communication between particular resources at the user premises (e.g., a particular PC used by one member of a household) and a particular access point in the network (e.g., the access point to a secure corporate network).

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