Linux's security model is very closely related to the typical UNIX security mechanisms. The security issues regarding Linux can be divided into two main groups. The first is authentication and the other is access control. Authentication makes it sure that no body will be able to access the system without first proving that he or she has entry rights. A very new security mechanism has been now developed by a number of UNIX vendors.
The PAM or pluggable authentication modules system is based on a shared library that can be used by any system component that needs to authenticate the users. An implementation of this PAM system is available under Linux. PAM allows the authentication modules to be loaded on demand as predefined or specified in a system wide configuration file. Now let us talk about the other aspect of Linux security model and that is 'access control'.
Access control provides a mechanism for checking whether a user has the right to access a certain object, and preventing access to the objects as required. Access controls can be applied to various different objects in the system. Each and every file available in the system is actually protected by the standard access control mechanisms.
The PAM or pluggable authentication modules system is based on a shared library that can be used by any system component that needs to authenticate the users. An implementation of this PAM system is available under Linux. PAM allows the authentication modules to be loaded on demand as predefined or specified in a system wide configuration file. Now let us talk about the other aspect of Linux security model and that is 'access control'.
Access control provides a mechanism for checking whether a user has the right to access a certain object, and preventing access to the objects as required. Access controls can be applied to various different objects in the system. Each and every file available in the system is actually protected by the standard access control mechanisms.
