/etc/suauth

[Jude DaShiell]

If you have a user account on a liinux box for this purpose called user, 
and you're not running pam a line like root:user:NOPASS in /etc/suauth 
chmod 600 /etc/suauth once saved may provide you with some security 
benefits.  When you next type su - <cr> after you've rebooted you'll read 
a message saying password authentication bypassed if you were user at that 
time and you will have full root privileges and root's environment.  The 
security benefits come as a result of computer crackers installing packet 
sniffers to capture passwords.  So if you install a new system and use new 
passwords and make your /etc/suauth file and reboot before you go onto the 
internet for the first time, all thoose packet sniffers will ever see is 
password authentication bypassed each time you become root.  Very 
frustrating for computer crackers, but then again who better deserves to 
be frustrated?