Linux-kernel mailing list archive 2000-07,: Re: Userland encrypted filesystem that root cannot access.

# Re: Userland encrypted filesystem that root cannot access.

Mike A. Harris (mharris@meteng.on.ca)
Sat, 19 Feb 2000 06:40:04 -0500 (EST)

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On Sat, 19 Feb 2000, Rafal Maszkowski wrote:

>> The data is not readable. Root may be able to hunt around in
>> kmem, or whatever, but the likelyhood of it is slim for the idea
>> that I'm interested in. 100% security isn't necessary, more of a
>> "obscure" the dumb root user from looking at user's private
>> files. Not obscure the smart root user who can read kmem, and
>> wants to spend the time to do so... ;o)
>
>Security thru obscurity never works in long run. A dumb
>administrator may be not able to break your encryption scheme
>but think about him as about a script kiddie - a somewhat
>smarter guy could write a tool for catching passwords when your
>software becames more known.

I agree 100%. However - in this *particular* case, it is only to
keep a dumb snoop out of private information. Not to keep a
skilled hacker out. Script kiddie hacking, and password snooping
is not going to happen here - it isn't that big of a deal. Only
a simple solution is needed for this particular case.

>On the other hand using PGP on a large server with 5 people
>having root access is a quite similar aproach. I can trust them
>to some extent and hope they have many more interesting things
>to do.

Well, I'm sure from suggestions from others that an acceptable
solution is possible for my limited case, but definitely not a
"Pentagon" style solution. This is a simple solution in need of
a "windows 95 passwords" style solution. Something simple, that
keeps undetermined people out.

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