Sander van Vugt wrote:
Hi,
I'm risking the most stupid question of the year, but I do it anyway. I often hear things like "If you ever link to the internet as root you are asking for a world of hurt".
Could anyone please explain what excactly can happen (and im not talking about my own stupidities) when I'm connected to the Internet as root?
Sander
Would you go off to work and leave the front door of your home open, with a sign on the door that says "Come on in, steal everything I have, my credit cards, my jewels, my stereo and tv, then burn the place down. My insurance doesn't care because it won't cover it." That's what is would be like connecting to the internet as root, except that you don't have to 'go to work'. You can be on your PC typing aways, as I am now, and some cracker could take control of your PC and do the what I mentioned above. Even though SuSE does a good job of installing a relatively safe system, running as root is a bad, bad thing to do, even if you don't connect to the Internet. JLK -- To unsubscribe send e-mail to suse-linux-e-unsubscribe@suse.com For additional commands send e-mail to suse-linux-e-help@suse.com Also check the FAQ at http://www.suse.com/Support/Doku/FAQ/