I want to make Linux my main OS. I’ve used Windows for decades. Since Vista or 7, the Windows security model is this, from what I understand:

  1. unprivileged programs have limited/no ability to do scary things to your computer. they might be able to read some data, but it’s not going to implant malware in the boot sequence for Windows.
  2. if a program wants escalation, it triggers a UAC popup and the user has to accept it. Remote programs cannot accept UAC on a physical person’s behalf. Escalated programs have admin level control and can do the scary things.
  3. As with any OS, there may be privilege escalation vulnerabilities that escalate (1) into (2).

I’ve only had Windows malware a few times since Win7, and the entry point was fairly avoidable. (Running a sketchy EXE, and a possible drive-by malware install via an advertisement. I could never prove the latter.)

I have never run a password on my Windows machines.

On any system, physical access is game over.

On Linux, the password is paramount. I’ve tried to understand the security model and I keep failing. Synthesizing from arch wiki

SSH

Equivalent to local physical access as the user. If it’s a sudoers or root account, it can do scary things. Not a threat if ssh is disabled or well secured (password or key pairs).

If a network has a well configured firewall (on the router), it should block ssh requests from outside the network unless the admin specifically wants SSH outside the network.

As with any OS, there may be bugs that allow remote access outside of SSH.

Local login / password prompts to physical users

Without a password, you can’t escalate to root and install new software. Some software, often dealing with hardware (smartctl) requires sudo/root to run.

Encrypted drives

Passwords can decrypt drives if they are encrypted.

Keyrings

Some DEs (KDE) offer a ‘keyring’ that stores passwords. It’s locked/encrypted with a password, usually the same as the login password.

So what am I missing? Is Windows + UAC + no password secure? What is Linux protecting us from by using passwords?

  • utopiah@lemmy.ml
    8·
    19 hours ago

    At uni I logged on a thin terminal that would then connect to a computer with hundreds of users.

    You think of your computer as a desktop but in a reality it can be a lot more than that. Hundreds of users could simultaneously use it without bothering you (assuming resources are sufficient).

    Obviously that also means you shouldn’t be able to see or edit files from other users

    You, like most of us to be clear, are just using it in a very very limited way.

    It costs pragmatically nothing to keep this model working and it seriously limit usage to remove that. Now if you do want, you can autologin and skip all this but at your own risk.

    TL;DR: a desktop is just a server with a screen, mouse and keyboard, nothing magical about it. If a server can handle hundreds of users, so can your desktop even if that’s not how you use it.