Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!convex!killer!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!ukma!nrl-cmf!ames!pasteur!ucbvax!pinocchio.UUCP!bzs
From: bzs@pinocchio.UUCP (Barry Shein)
Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: password aging (from worm discussion)
Message-ID: <8811171612.AA19137@pinocchio.UUCP>
Date: 17 Nov 88 16:12:43 GMT
References: <8811100214.AA06002@marduk.Sun.COM>
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The Internet
Lines: 33


Although I support the other proposals I will argue that shadow
password files are a bad idea (actually, I'm not too enamored with
password aging, others have argued against this questionable idea.)

It means that if, for any reason, you believe your password file has
been let out you will have to admit that your security is compromised
and, for starters, have everyone change their password (then spend
your time "improving" the file's security etc.) You better also
develop effective means of detecting whether anyone has read your
password file or printed it out and not disposed of it properly.

You're turning the file into pure gold.

I still am confident that with methods like password changing programs
which try to prod the user to choose a reasonable password AND
education of users (perhaps backed with some internal enforcement,
such as removing accounts that insist on trivial passwords, whatever
your organization needs) the current publicly readable file affords
MORE security than a shadow file.

I sincerely hope that the community consider this matter before it
becomes some sort of standard. I believe it compromises security by
creating more problems than it solves, complicates security
administration by requiring strict controls on who can access the file
and creates new security crises when the file is believed to have been
read by someone unauthorized.

I fear that everyone is currently running willy-nilly trying to find
*something* to do in response to this worm, let's not, in the heat of
the moment, commit to something that actually makes matters worse.

	-Barry Shein, ||Encore||