[TriLUG] Automated file copy security question

[Ron Joffe]

Hey folks, got a question for anyone with some insight:

I've got a number of customers spread out across the US. I want to copy a set 
of data (a file for this discussion) from each customer to my own server on a 
regular scheduled time.

My main concern is security. 

I can easily set up an rsync job utilizing ssh that will take care of this 
issue. However my concern is this:

If I do a "push" from client to my site, and the client server gets 
compromised, then my server may also be compromised. I know I can limit this 
by limiting the shell capabilities of the user on my server.

If I do a "pull" from my site to my client, and my server gets compromised, 
then my client's server may also be compromised.

Any suggestions, ideas, or methodologies?

Thanks,

Ron