73 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
73 lines
4.5 KiB
HTML
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<!Converted with LaTeX2HTML 95.1 (Fri Jan 20 1995) by Nikos Drakos (nikos@cbl.leeds.ac.uk), CBLU, University of Leeds >
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<TITLE>4.1.3 Dealing with users</TITLE>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html3802 HREF="node160.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3800 HREF="node156.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3794 HREF="node158.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3804 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3805 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3803 HREF="node160.html">4.1.4 Setting the rules</A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3801 HREF="node156.html">4.1 About RootHats, </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3795 HREF="node158.html">4.1.2 Abusing the system</A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<H2><A NAME=SECTION00613000000000000000>4.1.3 Dealing with users</A></H2>
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<A NAME=4222> </A>
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<A NAME=4223> </A>
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<A NAME=4224> </A>
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<A NAME=4225> </A>
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UNIX security is rather lax by design. Security on the system was
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an afterthought---the system was originally developed in an environment where
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users intruding upon other users was simply unheard of. Because of this,
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even with security measures, there is still the ability for normal users
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to do harm.
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<P>
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System administrators can take two stances when dealing with abusive
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users: they can be either paranoid or trusting. The paranoid system
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administrator usually causes more harm than he or she prevents. One of
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my favorite sayings is, ``Never attribute to malice anything which can
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be attributed to stupidity.'' Put another way, most users
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don't have the ability or knowledge to do real harm on the system.
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90% of the time, when a user is causing trouble on the system (by,
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for instance, filling up the user partition with large files, or
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running multiple instances of a large program), the user is simply unaware
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that what he or she is doing is a problem. I have come down on users who
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were causing a great deal of trouble, but they were simply acting out
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of ignorance---not malice.
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<P>
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When you deal with users who are causing potential trouble, don't be
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accusative. The old rule of ``innocent until proven guilty'' still holds.
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It is best to simply talk to the user, and question about the trouble,
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instead of causing a confrontation. The last thing you want to do is
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be on the user's bad side. This will raise a lot of suspicion about you---the
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system administrator---running the system correctly. If a user believes
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that you distrust or dislike them, they might accuse you of deleting files
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or breaching privacy on the system. This is certainly not the kind of position
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that you want to be in.
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<P>
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If you do find that a user has been attempting to ``crack'' the system,
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or was intentionally doing harm to the system, don't return the malicious
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behavior with malice of your own. Instead, simply provide a warning---but
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be flexible. In many cases, you may catch a user ``in the act'' of
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doing harm to the system---give them a warning. Tell them not to let it
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happen again. However, if you <em>do</em> catch them causing harm again,
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be absolutely sure that it is intentional. I can't even begin to describe
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the number of cases where it appeared as though a user was causing trouble,
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when in fact it was either an accident or a fault of my own.
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<P>
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<BR> <HR><A NAME=tex2html3802 HREF="node160.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="next" SRC="next_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3800 HREF="node156.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="up" SRC="up_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3794 HREF="node158.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="previous" SRC="previous_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3804 HREF="node1.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="contents" SRC="contents_motif.gif"></A> <A NAME=tex2html3805 HREF="node250.html"><IMG ALIGN=BOTTOM ALT="index" SRC="index_motif.gif"></A> <BR>
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<B> Next:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3803 HREF="node160.html">4.1.4 Setting the rules</A>
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<B>Up:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3801 HREF="node156.html">4.1 About RootHats, </A>
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<B> Previous:</B> <A NAME=tex2html3795 HREF="node158.html">4.1.2 Abusing the system</A>
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<BR> <HR> <P>
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<BR> <HR>
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<P><ADDRESS>
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<I>Matt Welsh <BR>
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mdw@sunsite.unc.edu</I>
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</ADDRESS>
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</BODY>
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