Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!apple!olivea!tymix!cirrusl!sunstorm!dhesi From: dhesi%cirrusl@oliveb.ATC.olivetti.com (Rahul Dhesi) Newsgroups: comp.unix.internals Subject: Re: Complex security mechanism is unsecure Message-ID: <2826@cirrusl.UUCP> Date: 20 Dec 90 04:17:09 GMT References: <6922@titcce.cc.titech.ac.jp> <18826@rpp386.cactus.org> <18827@rpp386.cactus.org> <6948@titcce.cc.titech.ac.jp> <18840@rpp386.cactus.org> <6959@titcce.cc.titech.ac.jp> Sender: news@cirrusl.UUCP Organization: Cirrus Logic Inc. Lines: 12 I think many of you are missing the point of having files owned by root. When root owns files, and keeps them publicly unwritable, nobody else can mess with them. If you let anybody else own files, you are giving that user permission to change those files too. If root ever uses a file owned by somebody else, there's a security problem. Hence for better security, root should own all files that it uses. -- Rahul Dhesi UUCP: oliveb!cirrusl!dhesi