On Wed, 13 Feb 2002, Peter Beardsley wrote:
> Feb 12 20:00:37 xxx sshd(pam_unix)[18540]: authentication failure; 
> logname= uid=0 euid=0 tty=ssh ruser= rhost=216.72.153.69
>   user=xxxxxxxxxx
[...]
> So somehow s/he got the username.

  User names are often not that hard to find out.  According to the log 
you post, they did not succeed in authenticating (logging in), so they did 
not have a suitable password.  If your passwords are good, you should be 
reasonably safe.

> BTW I require ssh v2 connections.

  Make sure you've got the latest-and-greatest version of OpenSSH installed
(3.x something).  Require strong ciphers.  Disable anything that even
mentions "rhosts".  For maximum security, disable password authentication
and require public/private keys.

> I've read a little here and there about "monkey in the middle" attacks on
> ssh, but don't you have to be on the same subnet?

  All that is required for a man-in-the-middle attack is that the attacker
be in a position to intercept and replace communications in both directions.  
Being on the same subnet as one of the parties may or may not enable this.

  A good explanation (complete with diagram) of the concept of a
man-in-the-middle attack can be found on this webpage:

http://www.sm.luth.se/csee/courses/smd/102/lek5/lek5.html

  Here is another, specifically about SSH:

http://www.vandyke.com/solutions/ssh_overview/ssh_overview_threats.html

-- 
Ben Scott <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
| The opinions expressed in this message are those of the author and do not |
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