[WinMac] Re: unix/ nt security diffs?

Daniel L. Schwartz(expresso[at]snip.net)
Wed, 19 May 1999 08:26:39 -0500

        Several questions to consider when setting up user security:

        1) Are these machines truly "public," or are they "semi-private," in an
office setting where only a few users (like a research group) will have
access to it?

        2) When Chris talked about "being hacked into" does this mean that the
"hacking" was malicious or just plain stupidity? :)

        Combining these 2 principles, this past weekend I gave a
friend of mine a
PPro for her home with NT4/SP5. She has 4 local user accounts set up:
Administrator, plus a "Power User" account for her, plus 2 "Users" accounts
set up for her kids. Basically, she only logs on as Administrator to add
programs, but normally logs on under her "regular" account. I did this so
that she couldn't accidently make fatal changes to the system. And it works.

        The single biggest problem you'll run into with either NT or Mac
workstations (but not as much with 95/98) is the user attempting to make
system changes. With the Mac, it's easy (as well as tempting) to add that
shareware Control Panel or Extension that makes the Trash can growl or
belch; and at times these can cause all sorts of headaches when that
Extension was written with System 6.0.8 in mind! :)

        On the other hand, it's easy to screw up an NT installation
when logged on
as Administrator (or a linux box when logged on as root). You have a lot of
power, but just like that 450 horsepower GTO "goat" you can easily spin a
machine out of control.

        BTW, thanks for the tip on Symantec Ghost! :)

        Cheers, and safe surfing!
        Dan

[overly long quote deleted]

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