Path: utzoo!utgpu!watmath!clyde!att!osu-cis!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!dinosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu!karl From: karl@dinosaur.cis.ohio-state.edu (Karl Kleinpaste) Newsgroups: comp.unix.wizards Subject: Re: Autologout of unused terminals Message-ID:Date: 8 Dec 88 02:34:20 GMT References: <201.nlunix6@orcenl.uucp> <8978@smoke.BRL.MIL> <2682@sultra.UUCP> <9012@smoke.BRL.MIL> <3603@jpl-devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> <2255@cuuxb.ATT.COM> Sender: news@tut.cis.ohio-state.edu Organization: OSU Lines: 23 In-reply-to: dlm@cuuxb.ATT.COM's message of 7 Dec 88 22:18:45 GMT dlm@cuuxb.ATT.COM (Dennis L. Mumaugh) writes: The neatest special program is the 630MTG program dmdlock. If the terminal has no user activity - mouse or keyboard - in a given time period, the terminal locks itself and 15 minutes later the screen blanks. One has to then unlock the terminal. Hence walking away from the 630MTG results in auto-locking the terminal. ...30 seconds too late. After all, if I'm seriously interested in abusing dlm's terminal, I'm going to wait until, e.g., he goes for his regular about-10am coffee break outside the machine room. Then I'll just step into his office before his 630 dmdlock kicks in, and by the time it *does* kick in, I have committed whatever abuse I had in mind. Of course, if dlm locks his office with religious fervor any time he steps outside of it, then I'm out of luck. But then, his dmdlock is rather pointless, too. Moral, of course, is never to leave your terminal unattended in the first place. Unless the `given time period' is measured in small tens of seconds, it's an inadequate security device. --Karl