[ros-dev] dealing with insecure-by-inattention Windows software

[Dennis - Guardian]

Jeff Smith wrote:
> Wesley Parish wrote:
>> "insecure-by-inattention" - by that I mean software that must run as 
>> super-user
>> or otherwise (otherstupidly) it won't run at all.  ReactOS is not 
>> only intended
>> as a plug-in replacement for MS Windows, if I read this-and-that 
>> correctly, it's
>> also intended to "get it done right".  And so we can't have 
>> super-user as
>> default user, because that is Microsoft's thorn-in-the-flesh, and 
>> they can have
>> it.  I don't want it.
>>
>> What I've been thinking is there is quite a bit of useful information 
>> and
>> knowledge being actively developed and used in the Unix/BSD/Linux 
>> field for
>> handling that sort of problem.  The BSD chroot jail is one such 
>> implementation -
>> there are even some aspects of the MS Windows directory structure 
>> that would
>> simplify the adaption of the chroot jail to the ReactOS.
>>
>> [hardware]\Program Files\Abracadabra-Malware-Magnet\
>>
>> "Abracadabra-Malware-Magnet" is a separate subdirectory within the 
>> Program Files
>> directory.  Chroot jail, if I remember correctly, requires a separate 
>> directory
>> for each chrooted program so it sees itself as the one-and-only love 
>> of its
>> kernel's uptime.  The MS Windows directory structure already has this 
>> separable
>> directory structure.
>>
>> What needs to be done is to ensure that it thinks it's the only one 
>> around.
>>
>> There would be some sizeable problems - ensuring that the dlls would be
>> sufficiently robust to avoid being hijacked, is just one, ensuring 
>> that it
>> couldn't make any changes to dlls outside its directory is a bigger 
>> one, but
>> that could be handled by making sure it installed all its (uniquely) 
>> needed dlls
>> in its chroot jail.  Which a lot of Win32 programs do anyway.
>>
>> What do people think?
>>
>> Wesley Parish
>>
>> "Sharpened hands are happy hands.
>> "Brim the tinfall with mirthful bands" - A Deepness in the Sky, 
>> Vernor Vinge
>>
>> "I me.  Shape middled me.  I would come out into hot!" I from the 
>> spicy that day was overcasked mockingly - it's a symbol of the other 
>> horizon. - emacs : meta x dissociated-press
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>>
>>
>>   
> Sorry but I'm not familiar wit chroot, so I didn't catch all of that 
> but why not have something where during the setup it'll ask you for 
> the "system password" those would be used for the Administrator 
> account first time logging in a window would appear, explaining the 
> pro's and con's of the admin account and asks the user if he/she wants 
> to create another account for his/her activities.
>
> this approach will do 2 things 1. secure the computer because ReactOS 
> would automatically prompt the user about the security of the admin 
> account and 2. educate the user with a little bit about how the 
> computer works.
>
> "Every thing should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler." - 
> Albert Einstein
>
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since I do software development and a little support for a living I 
think I'm qualified to make this comment.  As much as we'd like to 
educate people in this manner (no matter what software we write) most 
users will not read it and if they do, they will not understand it.
as much as choice is nice (and the open source way), it's probably 
better to just have them use the secure way by default.  make it easy to 
find and change the behavior for those that want to, but keep it out of 
the way of the average user.  maybe something like an option in the 
beginning of setup for 'let me choose everything' or 'just make it work' 
and an easy switch between advanced mode/just work mode somewhere else 
would be a good way to go?

Dennis