| From: | Bart King |
| Date: | 14 May 2000 at 11:53:43 |
| Subject: | Re: Ident port |
Samuel Byford <sam@biffordyoungest.u-net.com> wrote:
> So - question is, whats the Ident port and how do I close it??
IDENT originates from UNIX (like most things, actually :). It's simply a
method which servers (and clients) can use to see you are who you say you
are. It basically stands for "identification".
For example, in Genesis, the drop-down list next to the list of ISPs ("user
name") is actually telling IDENT who you are. Servers can then use this
information to confirm you are allowed to proceed with connection, or just
so they can understand who you are.
A vast majority of servers (be it IRC, FTP or some other magic) will still
allow you to connect without IDENT running, however you will experience
quite lengthy delays during connection.
Whilst on the subject of IDENT, being an IRC administrator, I'd like to
point out reasons why you should change your IDENT from the default (which
is usually "root").
The user name "root" again originates from UNIX, and "root" allows you to
have full access to a machine running UNIX.
Say for a moment you are using a real UNIX machine and not using an Amiga.
If you log in as "root", you can do what you want with the system and it
won't complain and proceed with your requests without warning. Whilst it
may be convenient for you if you are the single person on the UNIX machine
to log in as "root" all the time, the security measures which you get
whilst you are not "root" are there to benefit you, and are lost if you log
in as "root" all the time.
Whilst the chances of your machine being targeted on the Internet from
hackers/snoopers are small, think of the possibilities that can happen if
you are logged in as "root" and they gain access to your account (it is
possible). If you are logged in as a "normal" user, they can do much less
damage.
The same still applies to the Amiga and users of either AmiTCP, Genesis or
Miami(DX). But, since the Amiga always has been a single-user machine, you
are effectively logged in as "root" all the time - the difference being you
are using an Amiga and not a UNIX machine, two completely different
systems, meaning hackers will have even less chance of success (but not
zero).
Coming back to IDENT, say you use "root" under your Amiga's TCP/IP stack.
If a hacker or snooper decides to attack your machine whilst on-line,
chances are they'll see who you are, via IDENT (either a direct connection
to you or via your user name on IRC). If you are "root", they'll think to
themselves "oh baby! found a ripe one here!" and launch all manners of
hacking and smacking tools on your machine.
As running an Amiga, their tools might not do much, but your connection
will be slowed and you'll wonder what all these flashing lights mean - your
modem may even drop because of it. All this because you are using "root"
as your user name.
OK, fair enough - this might be an extreme situation, but I have seen it
happen countless times. I certainly do not recommend disabling IDENT (in
fact, you can't do it completely) but I _strongly suggest_ you change your
user name in your TCP/IP stack.
Now that I've said this, I don't want anyone coming on IRC with "root" as
their user name, capishe? :)
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