Messages in this thread |  | | | From | (H. Peter Anvin) | | Subject | Re: disabling Intel PSN | | Date | 17 Dec 1999 12:02:36 -0800 |
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Followup to: <Pine.LNX.4.05.9912170550101.24762-100000@ns.snowman.net> By author: Stephen Frost <sfrost@ns.snowman.net> In newsgroup: linux.dev.kernel > > What you describe is roughly equivalent to storing the 24 extra bytes > > in a local file or in a hacked copy of the ssh program itself. > > Which actually decreases security because it's no longer just in > your head. :) This means that a bad guy can learn part of your pass- > phrase, and with that have a potentionally easier time figuring out the > rest. >
That's not true. It only decreases security if you make the manual part of the passphrase correspondingly shorter. As an *addition*, it increases security. As a *replacement*, it decreases security.
However, the main reason I can see for allowing the PSN to be enabled would be (a) asset tracking, (b) identifying a system among some set of "dumb" nodes on an non-Ethernet network (e.g. dialin) -- this lets all systems be cloned identically, reducing cost; (c) licensing. Although I personally disagree with (c), if a company has a product I want I'd rather see them make it available on Linux with a dumb license rather than not offer it at all.
-hpa -- <hpa@transmeta.com> at work, <hpa@zytor.com> in private! "Unix gives you enough rope to shoot yourself in the foot."
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