Why use strong passwords? Post: 302727041

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Special Forums Cybersecurity Why use strong passwords? Post 302727041 by Neo on Monday 5th of November 2012 02:26:58 PM

11-05-2012

Administrator

Quote:

Originally Posted by jgt

Passwords are no longer stored in /etc/passwd. If you have access to /etc/shadow, then you already have root access to the target system anyway, either through the root password, or physical access.

Yes, I am using the term "password file" in the general since, as we have not discussed a specific system, algorithm, configuration, security policy, etc.

And, we are getting far off topic in my view; the original poster asked why there is a requirement for strong passwords versus weak ones; not for a discussion of every possible argument pro and con for security.

It's not that hard for an experienced attacker to gain root access; but that is not a topic for this thread. In fact, as we know, we can gain root access for most any computer we have physical access to.

Let's not go down that path.. thanks. The path just gets further and further off topic of the question asked by the original poster.

Neo

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dialups

dialups(4)							   File Formats 							dialups(4)

NAME

       dialups - list of terminal devices requiring a dial-up password

SYNOPSIS

       /etc/dialups

DESCRIPTION

       dialups	is  an	ASCII file which contains a list of terminal devices  that require a dial-up password. A dial-up password is an additional
       password required of users who access the computer through a modem or dial-up port.  The correct password must be entered before  the  user
       is granted access to the computer. The set of ports that require a dial-up password are	listed in the dialups file.

       Each entry in the dialups file is a single line of the form:

	      terminal-device

       where

       terminal-device	       The  full  path	name  of the terminal device that will require a dial-up password for users accessing the computer
			       through a modem or dial-up port.

       The dialups file should be owned by the root user and the root group.  The file should have read and write permissions for the owner (root)
       only.

EXAMPLES

       Example 1: A sample dialups file.

       Here is a sample dialups file:

       /dev/term/a
       /dev/term/b
       /dev/term/c

FILES

       /etc/d_passwd	       dial-up password file

       /etc/dialups	       list of dial-up ports requiring dial-up passwords

SEE ALSO

       d_passwd(4)

SunOS 5.10							    4 May 1994								dialups(4)