2005/02/14 Backdoor

A backdoor account is an account that has root privileges. If installed by a hacker, that's obviously a bad thing. Such an account isn't necessarily going to be obvious:

• System Backdoor Information
• Keeping access to the machine

but sometimes sysadmins install their own backdoor for less nefarious purposes; to protect against an accidental root password change or to make certain tasks easier.

If done for the latter reason, this is definitely a bad idea. Such problems should be solved with sudo or setuid programs.

I'm of mixed mind on having this for protective purposes. Yes, root passwords can be accidentally changed, and that can be a major annoyance to fix (/Linux/lostlinuxpassword.html, /Unixart/lost_root_password.html). But if the backdoor account has an "easy" password, you've just decreased security. If this is going to be done, I'd suggest making a difficult password, sealing it in an envelope, and planning never to use this account unless loss of root made it necessary.

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