Linux w/ SBC DSL

[Monty J. Harder]

"Gerald Combs" <gerald at ethereal.com> wrote:
> It makes me physically ill to come out in defense of SBC, but if you're
> authenticating PPP (including PPPoE), you have three choices:
>
>   - Use PAP.  Passwords are sent in the clear, but can be encrypted on
>     the server.
>
>   - Use CHAP.  Passwords are encrypted using a one-way hash.  They must be
>     stored in clear text on the client and server.

  Yuck.  I'm glad I get to use RoadRunner.  I suppose it stands to reason -
PPP is designed to run over a serial line, a lot less likely to be sniffed
than Ethernet.  But it's still bad from a security standpoint.

>   - Use some proprietary/mangled version of CHAP, such as MS-CHAP
>     or whatever crap someone (Shiva?) came up with a while back.

  And so is security through obscurity.  I guess it's asking too much to
expect some form of Public Key scheme be used.