RE: [techtalk] About prettyphysicslady on the linuxchix techtalk list...

[Angela Nash]

This is *NOT* a backdoor.  Backdoors are hidden, secret ways in to a system.  This isn't hidden.  It isn't secret.  It's very well known and is a recovery method.  It's *NOT* a "series mistake in the default shipping configuration".  This is a recovery mechanism almost every UNIX system has had for years and years.  If you don't like it disable it.  Anyone planning to put a secure system in place should read up and know enough to remove this option, as well as secure the box in every other way.   Jason -----Original Message----- From: Coinneach MacSandair [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] Sent: Saturday, May 12, 2001 9:23 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [techtalk] About prettyphysicslady on the linuxchix techtalk list... Jeff,     All right that's enough!  You are way out of line.   First, PrettyPhysicsLady is NOT being unreasonable.  It IS a back door.  And we're not talking about using boot floppies or recovery CD's or cracking the stupid case to erase the CMOS to override the BIOS password here -- we're talking about a serious mistake in the default shipping configuration of the operating system that is big enough to drive a bloody MacTruck through.  A complete newbie can have unchallenged root access to nearly any Linux box within 30 seconds without any hardware related measures at all.   If you're not smart enough to understand why people might be concerned about THAT -- then perhaps you should consider hiring a fourteen year old to handle your computer affairs for you.