Here's one for all the sysadmins out there (whether for home or office systems): My boss has now decided that 'managing procmail filters' (which is what those lists of email addresses I asked about yesterday are for) includes creating the email account that the procmail filters belong to. Given the overall system this is a part of, it does make some degree of sense to have this capability, but I am concerned about the security implications of allowing someone to create accounts over an ftp-style connection. And this is part of a product intended for sale. Which is where the sysadmins on the list come in: What would have to be done (and I'm willing to provide more details about what's in place and the overall system) to convince you that this 'feature' is secure? I'm currently thinking about the following: - Switch in /etc to disable account creation - Log of all accounts created - Optional immediate email notification of accounts created to arbitrary address - Use of a challenge-response validation to authorize account creation (I'd also appreciate any pointers to relevant books or URLs for this. I know just enough about crypto to know what it is and that, if I tried writing it with only my current knowledge, I would produce a pretty weak implementation.) Primary constraints: - The initial server is implemented in perl - The initial (non-telnet) client will be grafted into an existing body of C code - Creation of alternate servers will be essential and is likely to be done by third parties, so any techniques used will need to remain secure even when the protocol and authentication method are well-documented - Although it hasn't been officially approved, there is a good chance that I'll be able to get the server code GPLed; even if I can't, it's in perl. The Bad Guys will be able to look at the source. -- "Two words: Windows survives." - Craig Mundie, Microsoft senior strategist "So does syphillis. Good thing we have penicillin." - Matthew Alton Geek Code 3.1: GCS d- s+: a- C++ UL++$ P+>+++ L+++>++++ E- W--(++) N+ o+ !K w---$ O M- V? PS+ PE Y+ PGP t 5++ X+ R++ tv b+ DI++++ D G e* h+ r++ y+ --------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe, e-mail: tclug-list-unsubscribe at mn-linux.org For additional commands, e-mail: tclug-list-help at mn-linux.org