http://mrhorn.com/wp/posts/intermediate-home-computer-security/ Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:30:15 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://mrhorn.com/wp/posts/intermediate-home-computer-security/comment-page-1/#comment-4137 John Smith Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:55:06 +0000 https://mrhorn.com/wp/?p=360#comment-4137 A solution to all these problems is linux, and some common sense. A solution to all these problems is linux, and some common sense.

]]> http://mrhorn.com/wp/posts/intermediate-home-computer-security/comment-page-1/#comment-42 Kunal Sat, 10 Jan 2009 04:19:44 +0000 https://mrhorn.com/wp/?p=360#comment-42 Regarding the topic of restricted users vs. administrator users. Windows XP's restricted user is severely crippled compared to the administrators, and as such is a hassle to use. Windows Vista attempted to create a fix for this by asking the user whether to allow actions or not. Instead of truly addressing the problem, it just annoyed users to no end and few people actually read what the warning message was. The Linux operating system, on the other hand, was built from the ground up to be a multi-user OS where the average user would not have administrator (superuser) privileges. The use of sudo to execute actions as superuser is effective in preventing malicious software from executing without user input, but it also suffers from the same problem. Social engineering can be used to con users into inputting their root password into a malicious program, and that program would then be able to execute code as a superuser, leading to similar problems. In conclusion, nearly all of the time, the problem exists between the chair and the keyboard. Regarding the topic of restricted users vs. administrator users. Windows XP’s restricted user is severely crippled compared to the administrators, and as such is a hassle to use. Windows Vista attempted to create a fix for this by asking the user whether to allow actions or not. Instead of truly addressing the problem, it just annoyed users to no end and few people actually read what the warning message was.
The Linux operating system, on the other hand, was built from the ground up to be a multi-user OS where the average user would not have administrator (superuser) privileges. The use of sudo to execute actions as superuser is effective in preventing malicious software from executing without user input, but it also suffers from the same problem. Social engineering can be used to con users into inputting their root password into a malicious program, and that program would then be able to execute code as a superuser, leading to similar problems.
In conclusion, nearly all of the time, the problem exists between the chair and the keyboard.

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