Messages in this thread |  | | From | Ian Stirling <> | Subject | Re: [PATCH] Single user linux | Date | Thu, 26 Apr 2001 18:22:01 +0100 (BST) |
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> > > On Thursday, April 26, 2001, at 07:03 AM, <imel96@trustix.co.id> wrote: > > he owns the computer, he may do anything he wants. <snip> > Any OS worth its weight in silicon will make a distinction between > blessed and unblessed users. It can be phrased in different ways -- > root vs. non-root, admin vs. non-admin. But no one should EVER log in > to a machine as root. Period. (1)
Also, there is another reason. If you'r logged in as root, then any exploitable bug in large programs, be it netscape, realplayer, wine, vmware, ... means that the cracker owns your machine. If they are not, then the cracker has to go through another significant hoop, in order to get access to the machine. For optimal security, you can do things like running netscape and other apps under unpriveledged users, where they only have access to their own files.
(Note, netscape/.. are just used as examples, I'm not saying they are more buggy than others, just large, and hard to get bug-free)
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