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-
- Most accounts have special files called "dot" files. These files
- control the startup, environment, and execution of the shell and some
- programs. It is very important that these files not be writable
- or owned by anyone but you! If someone else owns or can write those
- files, they can take control of your account in a matter of minutes!
- Then they'll be you, which means they can do anything you can do: read,
- write or modify files; send mail; talk to other users; print
- documents. Make sure that permissions on these files are set to 644,
- or, better yet, 600:
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- .login .logout .cshrc .bashrc .kshrc .xinitrc
- .dbxinit .profile .sunview .mwmrc .twmrc .exrc
-
- [Excerpted from "Guide to Account Security"]
-