Chapter 19. Managing Users, Managing Security

IN THIS CHAPTER

• User Accounts and Permissions

• Who Needs What? Managing Groups

• Passwords: The First Line of Security

• Monitoring User Activity

• Letting Mortals Play at Wizardry: SuperUsers

The heart of Linux security is determining who can use what file and what kind of use is permitted. This is not all there is to making Linux a more secure system, but ultimately what is the purpose of computer security? Keeping the bad guys out of your files.

In this chapter, you will learn about setting up user accounts and creating and managing groups that work together. There are decisions to make about user passwords: Does the user select them, or does the administrator? How strong must passwords be? How often to change them? In this chapter, you'll get advice about security. In short, you'll learn about the human side of system administration.

This stuff is particularly important for system administrators in a multiuser office setting, but even if you are working by yourself, you will need to become familiar with permissions and passwords. This is the area where trouble often starts, and it's the first thing to check when you can't run something.