flash drive mount and write permission 2641

I asked you first. :)

I was thinking in terms of network security. I don't know ANYTHING about groups and, in particular, I don't know why there is such a thing as a group pbuttword. I only infer that there must be such a thing because there is a command gpbuttwd. The only thing I was worried about was that I might be creating an enbreasty that can log in without giving a pbuttword if I don't create a group pbuttword for the newly created "flash". I don't know under what conditions someone would be asked to type in a group pbuttword and what typing it would let them do and, in particular, what the nonexistence of such a pbuttword would imply.

The person who first gave me this computer never bothered to create a root pbuttword and then sent me innocently out into the internet. Only later did I realize that this was the case and that it would let anyone on the internet log in as root, whereupon I closed the hole. As it happens, I was lucky, since the system never got hacked at that point. In the present instance, I'm just erring on the side of caution by asking whether, once one creates a group, one is thereby creating another way to log in, unless one establishes a pbuttword for that group.

So, I want to know two things: (1) The scenario I'm describing can't happen. (2) Under what conditions someone or something would type a group pbuttword and what that would let them do. -- Ignorantly, * Disclaimer: I am a guest and *not* a member of the MIT CSAIL. My actions and * comments do not reflect in any way on MIT. Also, I am nowhere near Boston.