KBTAG: kben10000123
URL: http://www.securityportal.com/lskb/10000100/kben10000123.html
Date created: 06/08/2000
Date modified:
Date removed:
Authors(s): Kurt Seifried seifried@securityportal.com
Topic: User information services overview
Keywords: Network/UserInfo
There are several services that allow remote computers to find out information about users on your machine. This can be useful for tracking usage, account break-ins and so on. It can also be useful for attackers in some cases to find out usernames and usage patterns.
The two main services are identd and finer. Identd is useful for tracking usage, you can ask the remote server which user is coming from the port in question, this is especially useful for tracking account usage and tracing break-ins. The other is finger, which is useful for seeing if someone is online, but usually more useful to attackers.