[Tfug] Why would *anyone* leave a door open?

[Matthew Patenaude]

On Sat, Aug 29, 2009 at 9:15 AM, Bexley Hall <bexley401 at yahoo.com> wrote:

> > >I have probably a dozen machines that I use on a regular basis.
> > >That doesn't count other online accounts, etc.  (note that I
> > >have *no* online banking, credit card, utility, etc. accounts
> > >which would only add to the number of "secrets")  I don't have
> > >duplicate passwords.  All of them contain nonalphanumeric
> > >charactes, etc.  And none are "written down".  Great!  *But*,
> > >relying on brute force memory means I simply can't afford to
> > >change them often!  So, regardless of how many of the "right"
> > >things I do, I can't do *all* of them (without resorting to
> > >pen and paper, etc.)
> >
> > I'm not nearly as secure or methodical about my passwords
> > as that... though I suppose I should try a little harder.
>
> But it's a losing battle!  Each new account means yet another
> password (or three!).  E.g., I only remember root passwords on
> my machines.  Too damn hard to remember regular accounts!
> Instead, I login as toor and su to the "user du jour".
>
> > Still, I tend to have lots of Net accounts spread all over
> > the place for various functions.  Even when using duplicate
> > passwords (sometimes), one of my
> > biggest problems is remembering just what the hell my user
> > name is on system/site X.  The bigger the Net, the larger the
> > number of sites and users, the bigger the problem of getting
> > something unique that *you* want (because
> > you'll be more likely to remember it).
>
> Yup.  I think it helps if your name is Mxlpxt!  ;-)
> In some cases, I rely on names/words that are tied to bits of
> my past/present/future.  In other cases, just random sequences
> of characters.  <shrug>  Its no harder to remember than
> an equally obscure sequence of characters for a password.  :<
>
> > So, I've finally resorted to storing all this critical
> > information in a text file on my file server.
>
> <grin>  I did that on the first time-sharing system that
> I used -- but, never "saved" it "on line".  Instead, I
> typed it in and then "listed" the file with the paper
> tape punch turned on  ;-)  Then, deleted the file.
>
> This was handy as it rendered the list virtually unreadable
> to anyone but a geek.  And, typically required that geek to have
> access to a teletype to decode the list (unless you used a
> "pocket decoder").
>
> Unfortunately, even coiled up nice and tight, it was still
> like carrying a marble around all the time  :<
>
> > But... I keep my home directory on an encrypted filesystem
> > with a lengthy and
> > unique passphrase.  That means that every time the
> > machine boots it is
> > unaccessible until I log in, become root, and run my mount
> > script which does all the setup and unlocks/mounts the thing.
> >
> > I find this to be a useful setup.  I can keep all my
> > important data on the encrypted filesystem and be relatively
> > sure about its safety.  Having only my
> > home directory encrypted also means that the machine can
> > boot on its own
> > (unlike my laptop which is fully encrypted and needs the
> > passphrase just to
> > boot).  Useful for when I need to remotely reboot it.
>
> Why not keep it on your PDA?  And just configure it
> not to be "backed up" when you resync with your machine?
>
> > Of course, I typically keep the thing unlocked and mounted
> > the whole time the
> > machine is on, so if somebody was able to break in via the
> > Net they could get
> > it.  But it's plenty sufficient for somebody with
> > physical access.
>
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Tucson Free Unix Group - tfug at tfug.org
> Subscription Options:
> http://www.tfug.org/mailman/listinfo/tfug_tfug.org
>

I know guys: use insanely long passwords and just keep them on a file or
piece of paper somewhere; only code the passwords themselves in a mixture of
two obscure natural languages, the words of which are your own personal
coded version of those! What y'all think? :) :)

(I bet some smartypants is going to gripe about how hard it is to learn
French, much less Inuit!) :)
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://tfug.org/pipermail/tfug_tfug.org/attachments/20090829/a81a7add/attachment-0002.html>