Re: User access & security

Mark <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>:
This is a question related to my next post.

Caveat: haven't read it yet.

If there is a user with non-root access to their account, we are
dependent on their having a good password to ward off too much nasty
activity.

I am told that it is fairly easy with user access to install a rootkit
of some sort and totally compromise the system.

No. User access can affect User's acct., and that's all, assuming of
course that that user doesn't have access to root owned stuff.

Now it seems to me that if this user is careless with this password,
then the whole server is at risk. How true is this? Doesn't this weaken

IFF there are easily compromisable services running on the box, yes
mere users can do irreparrable damage. Huh. "aptitude update &&
aptitude upgrade", aka, "Install updated/fixed software". Do it often.

Better, don't run software you can't protect, or at least don't expose
it. Firewall and proxy and ... any Windows machine. Don't run stupid
services on Internet facing interfaces without considering their
capabilities, good and bad.

If that is the case, what do ISPs do, with their thousands of ordinary
users? What does anybody do?

Run lots of traffic monitoring software. Scrutinize output. Cross
fingers.

I ask this because I have inadvertently left an account open with a

!@#$ happens. Clean up.

This can happen using any OS. This has nothing to do with Linux.


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