VanLUG Email Archive
Dave Michelson (dmichelson@home.com)
Fri, 15 Jan 1999 14:18:44 -0800
R Garth Wood wrote:
>
> ifconfig up|down can only be done as root (obviously) and ppl should never
> have to do anything that requires root privs in normal operations.
> For example this might be the family machine with everyone having
> an account. Giving everyone root might not be wise.
Well, even mounting/unmounting removable media requires root privileges
the last time I looked. Actually, I keep a root/console window open
which I use for routine system tasks (mount/umount, dhcpcd, etc.)
*only*. I actually wrote tiny scripts (mntfl, umntfl, mntcd, umntcd,
mntzip, umntzip, connect, dconnect) so that I wouldn't have to type in
all the device and command line options each time. If this were a
family machine, I would be tempted to write a tcl/tk or perl/tk script
with an appropriate set of radio buttons. But it's not.
> Maybe unplugging the ether is a better idea if you're that worried.
Do I sound paranoid? Well, I've heard so many people complaining about
security issues (port scanning, unauthorized access attempts) on 7/24
connections that I figured that anything that eliminates access to my
machine during off hours is probably a good thing.
Ryan Land told me a funny story about a colleague of his that had his
Win95 desktop "modified" while he was at work. He now unplugs his
Ethernet port when his machine isn't in use.
-- Dave Michelson dmichelson@home.com
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