Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!uunet!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!natinst!rpp386!jfh From: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: What should the password/security/userinfo/login system include? Message-ID: <17427@rpp386.cactus.org> Date: 10 Dec 89 20:33:13 GMT References: <4180@sbcs.sunysb.edu> <1989Dec7.172233.10130@chinet.chi.il.us> <1236@ispi.UUCP> <1989Dec9.053433.5407@chinet.chi.il.us> Reply-To: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org (John F. Haugh II) Distribution: usa Organization: Lone Star Cafe and BBS Service Lines: 15 In article <1989Dec9.053433.5407@chinet.chi.il.us> les@chinet.chi.il.us (Leslie Mikesell) writes: >If they are written to a file that can only be read by root, why >should I worry about that? If someone can already get root permissions >why would they want to know any other passwords? will the file always be readable by root only? there is a serious difference between being able to access data and having root privilege. unix security is based on your knowing something, so the information is very valuable. -- John F. Haugh II +-Things you didn't want to know:------ VoiceNet: (512) 832-8832 Data: -8835 | In Ham lingo DEC is rot-13 for "Low InterNet: jfh@rpp386.cactus.org | Power". "CPU?" "QRP Vax-11." UUCPNet: {texbell|bigtex}!rpp386!jfh +--------------------------------------