Puppy Linux Discussion Forum

ICPUG · Joined: 24 Jul 2005 Posts: 1278 Location: UK

Thank you DPUP5520 for the link and increasing my knowledge.

I look at Task Manager every day and it never stuck me that SYSTEM was an actual account that you could get into.

My task Manager also lists the following users:
wininstall_service
LOCAL SERVICE
NETWORK SERVICE

I wonder why there has to be these specialist users when SYSTEM exists ... As you answer one query more questions arise ...

Anyway - let's get this thread back on topic. Thanks once again for the info.

ICPUG · Joined: 24 Jul 2005 Posts: 1278 Location: UK

Lobster - your comment is the sort that the 'don't run as root' brigade lap up to label us as idiots.

While I do not have much fear from using Puppy specifically. The types of threat constantly evolve and are there.

I do not worry too much about viruses, trojans etc.

However, I do worry about drive by attacks that use browser capabilities to to determine personal info that might be useful to the ne'er-do-wells. Such info may be available in the pupsave file or even in the current session somewhere. I don't know - I am not that much of a cracker - but I don't close my eyes to it. Of course running non-root will not save you from this, neither will running Ubuntu, Windows or anything else.

Our most dangerous adversary is not our ignorance but ourselves, if we are shut our eyes to the possibilities.

Bruce B · Posted: Thu 16 Jun 2011, 08:16 Post subject:

DPUP5520 · Joined: 16 Feb 2011 Posts: 759

ICPUG I don't know much about the "Local Service" and "Network Service" accounts only that they are accounts specifically for controlling a limited set of obviously network and local services, as for "wininstall_service" If I remember correctly is the account that controls the Windows installer and can install custom services on the machine but I'm not quite sure about that one.