.gnome_private

[Robert Bihlmeyer <robbe orcus priv at>]

Hi,

>>>>> On Sun, 28 Feb 1999 20:11:22 +0000 (GMT)
>>>>> "I.J. Campbell" <ijc25@cam.ac.uk> said:

 Ian> On Sun, 28 Feb 1999, Maciej Stachowiak wrote:

 >> No way. NFS home directories typically go over the network in the
 >> clear. Also, crackers who crack root should not be able to use
 >> information on disk to infiltrate other hosts. Secret data should
 >> never ever be saved in the user's home directory in the clear.

 Ian> This sounds like quite a major problem with the whole
 Ian> .gnome_private idea. (which is probably why I can't see any apps
 Ian> using it).

In my conception .gnome_private is not really for secret data, only
for private stuff. For example, I think that gtt should save my
time-tracking data in .gnome_private, not .gnome, so that other people 
on the same host can't spy on my habits by default. Someone with root
priviledge can of course always do that.

 Ian> Maybe someone should look into encrypting this directory or
 Ian> something?

Well, xor "encryption" could be included. Interested parties outside
the US of A could then provide patches to implement real security.

        Robbe

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Robert Bihlmeyer	reads: Deutsch, English, MIME, Latin-1, NO SPAM!
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