Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Tom
If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my machine anyway, except use it. And due to the firewall that never happens anyway. -- To

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Oliver Elphick
On Sun, 2003-12-07 at 19:28, Tom wrote: If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my machine anyway, except use it. And due to the firewall

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Andrew Pritchard
If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my machine anyway, except use it. And due to the firewall that never happens anyway. There is no

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread H. S.
Tom wrote: If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my machine anyway, except use it. And due to the firewall that never happens anyway. What

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Alex Malinovich
On Sun, 2003-12-07 at 13:59, Oliver Elphick wrote: --snip-- A user password could also be a protection against nosy girlfriends... At least until she says Why won't you tell me your password, don't you trust me? in which case it's about as easy to answer 'correctly' as Does this make me look

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Bijan Soleymani
Tom [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my machine anyway, except use it. And due to the firewall that

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Terry Hancock
On Sunday 07 December 2003 01:28 pm, Tom wrote: If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my machine anyway, except use it. And due to the

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Arnt Karlsen
On Sun, 7 Dec 2003 11:28:41 -0800, Tom [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote in message [EMAIL PROTECTED]: If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Tom
On Sun, Dec 07, 2003 at 09:48:00PM +0100, Arnt Karlsen wrote: ..be paranoid _enough_. Yeah, thanks everybody. Every once I in a while I let the fact that I never seem to get hacked confuse me... I never ran Virus software on my Home PC and I never got infected, except once: working at

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Micha Feigin
On Sun, Dec 07, 2003 at 11:28:41AM -0800, Tom wrote: If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? I know the answer is yes but -- why? They can't do anything to my machine anyway, except use it. And due to

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Paul Morgan
On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 14:07:19 -0600, Alex Malinovich wrote: On Sun, 2003-12-07 at 13:59, Oliver Elphick wrote: --snip-- A user password could also be a protection against nosy girlfriends... At least until she says Why won't you tell me your password, don't you trust me? in which case it's

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Paul Johnson
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, Dec 07, 2003 at 11:28:41AM -0800, Tom wrote: If I have a firewall, and I'm the only person who uses my computer, do I really have to have a password on my non-root account? YES! Firewalls are not the end-all, be-all in security. Security

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Paul Johnson
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, Dec 07, 2003 at 02:07:19PM -0600, Alex Malinovich wrote: At least until she says Why won't you tell me your password, don't you trust me? in which case it's about as easy to answer 'correctly' as Does this make me look fat?. :) I had a

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Paul Johnson
-BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE- Hash: SHA1 On Sun, Dec 07, 2003 at 01:01:55PM -0800, Tom wrote: But really, I'm not a dumb ass: I *never* got hacked at home. Of course not. I though I think the term you're looking for is cracked. http://ursine.ca/jargon/html/C/crack.html - -- .''`.

Re: Why should non-root users have a password?

2003-12-07 Thread Monique Y. Herman
On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 at 21:36 GMT, Paul Morgan penned: On Sun, 07 Dec 2003 14:07:19 -0600, Alex Malinovich wrote: On Sun, 2003-12-07 at 13:59, Oliver Elphick wrote: --snip-- A user password could also be a protection against nosy girlfriends... At least until she says Why won't you tell me