[CentOS] Unknown rootkit causes compromised servers

Tue Jan 29 13:01:36 UTC 2008
Alfredo Perez <alfredoj69 at rogers.com>

On Tue, Jan 29, 2008 at 04:43:16PM +1100, Les Bell wrote:
> 
> Frank Cox <theatre at sasktel.net> wrote:
> 
> >>
> I have never understood this.  If I have a good, strong password that
> nobody
> knows, how is changing it to another one an improvement over what I already
> have?
> <<
> 
> Correct. Modern thinking is to teach people how to create a good, strong
> password and then stick with it for a longer period than has traditionally
> been the case. A rainbow tables attack against a captured hash can be done
> in just a few seconds, so unless you're prepared to change your password
> every few seconds, it's a futile gesture.
> 
> Because most sets of rainbow tables cover all combinations of upper/lower
> case alpha, numeric and punctuation symbols, a strong password should
> contain at least one control character, a composed character (using the
> Alt+numpad technique) or some other non-printable character outside the
> rainbow tables set. Or use two-factor authentication (RSA SecurID or
> similar tokens, certificates, etc.).
> 

Thinking about the above made me ask the following question: 

Is it possible to setup Centos to ask for a change of password
every month?

Thanks

Alfredo
The Sauce