If you’re a Unix admin, it helps to know how password aging is managed and how you can determine when a password was last changed or force a change in the near future. The key to understanding how ...

Unix is a multi-user operating system deep into the kernel level of its operations. Unix-like operating systems that are commonly used in the workplace include OS X and every variety of Linux, as well ...

Ubuntu 26.04 will show asterisks when you type your sudo password, as Canonical adds a patch to its Rust-based sudo-rs.

Unix sysadmins sometimes use the command chage -d 0 to immediately expire a user’s password. While only one of a number of ways that you can use to disable accounts, it’s one that’s quick (it doesn’t ...

Not long ago, I received an announcement about a new book on constructing good passwords. My first reaction was an incredulous “An entire book on PASSWORDS?”. I have written columns on passwords, good ...

Most breaches don’t start with malware or zero-day exploits. They start with a login.  An attacker gets hold of a password, maybe through phishing, reuse, or a leaked credential dump. They test it ...

If you want an example of evolution in action, look at the GNU/Linux password system. Although it includes the basic UNIX password structure as a vestigial organ, natural selection in the form of ...

The Rust implementation sudo-rs now shows asterisks by default when typing passwords. A break with long Unix tradition.

If you can remember all of your passwords, they're not good passwords. I used to teach people how to create "good" passwords. Those passwords needed to be lengthy, hard to guess and easy to remember.

As one of the original versions of Unix, BSD is an ancient operating system. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that it used what are, by today’s standards, strange, even ridiculous security. For one, ...