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Date:      Tue, 13 Oct 1998 18:08:55 +0100
From:      Ben Smithurst <ben@scientia.demon.co.uk>
To:        Chan <bsd@capgemini.com.sg>
Cc:        "freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG" <freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG>
Subject:   Re: security
Message-ID:  <19981013180855.D945@scientia.demon.co.uk>
In-Reply-To: <36234779.50CEBB96@capgemini.com.sg>
References:  <36234779.50CEBB96@capgemini.com.sg>

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Chan wrote:

> I wonder if it's safe to put a FreeBSD on the internet?

uh, I think so. wcarchive.cdrom.com runs FreeBSD. As do I of course,
though my machine is not permanently connected, so the only intruders
I get are morons trying to post shit through my news server. ipfw and
nnrp.access are your friend there. (I prefer ipfw, saves a DNS lookup
and starting an nnrpd process for each fuckwit spammer.)

> Do I need to tighten any things on it? Can I change root to some
> other names?

By default, root cannot login remotely. You'll have to login as yourself,
and use su to become root (you must be in group wheel to su to root).

I can't see a reason why uid 0 _must_ be called root, though I wouldn't
be surprised if lots of things expect it, so I wouldn't change it.

> If I disable telnet, can intruders still execute commands by telneting
> to other ports?

No. Well, I'd hope not. (they should try and get in via ssh if you have
sshd running, but that is not installed by default. And choose a password
that's hard to guess, of course.)

> compare to NT, which is more secure?

I don't think I need to answer that question, I think you know the
answer perfectly well yourself.

-- 
Ben Smithurst                                          ben@scientia.demon.co.uk

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