Written by rosv the 29 Oct 08 at 09:03.
Category: Security.
Related project:
Nothing/Others.
Status: New
Rationale
Wouldn't it be nice to have support for various types of two factor authentication right at the visual login prompt?
In particular, support for RADIUS access challenge input would provide greater flexibility for Ubuntu login security.
I believe that support for a token device (like RSA securid or one time passwords sent to a mobile phone or something similar) would be a step forward for Ubuntu in the corporate world.
Basically, "all" that needs to be done is to add a text field prompting for additional user input, like a RADIUS access challenge, after the regular user name / password check.
You can add much checks to the login as you want and still it adds very little to the overall security. You allways (especally if you got hardware access) work around them. If you encrypt the users data with the key you enter there - that actually adds more overall security.
Dino. I agree with you. Two factor authentication using hard ware tokens is not a one size fits all solution to computer security. However, I do believe that it dramatically improves security when it comes to local login access.
Encrypting files and partitions is also a good way improve security and I don't think one of them necessarily has to rule out the other one.