cross-platform virus

[John]

Sasha Tsykin wrote:
>

>>
>> Want to crack a box?  Everyone has a root account, you only need to
>> crack the password.  Want to crack an Ubuntu box?  First, guess the
>> username, /then/ you can move to cracking the password.  An extra
>> security step is involved wherein one doesn't even have something (root)
>> to start with.  It's would take a hell of a dictionary attack to get a
>> strange username and password.
>>
>> Cybe R. Wizard
> 
> the difference is not material. Enterprise servers always have root 
> accounts, not sudo, and they are teh most secure machines available. 
> Nice theory, not really applicable in practice.

I'm a Windows 2003 Server admin. I _can_ disable the "administrator" 
account, I "can" create a user account (eg crwiz) with whatever 
administrative powers I wish etc.

When I install Windows XP Professional SP2 I _must_ create a user 
account, just as on U, and that user is an administrator. I _can_ 
disable or rename the original administrator.


Sasha, Ask your Dad, "Does OSIV/F4 have root accounts?"

For the others, and answer is, "No." (OSIV is/was Fujitsu's 
reimplementation of MVS).


Windows has "runas," which implements the sudo concept.


I'm also a Mac administrator.
When I install OS X, I find the root account disabled. Individual users 
who have administrator rights authenticate as themselves using sudo so 
as to run administrator tasks.

I'm also a Linux administrator. Mostly, I disable root and use sudo. (I 
also disable sulogin where it's used).