kubuntu-users Digest, Vol 69, Issue 45

[Reinhold Rumberger]

On Saturday 30 October 2010, Brian Wootton wrote:
> On 29/10/10 21:48, kubuntu-users-request at lists.ubuntu.com wrote:
> > a) That doesn't really address the mounting issue - you don't
> > want to have to involve root for every mount. plugdev means you
> > have permission to mount - it doesn't say anything about
> > permissions to write to the file system.
> > b) Try changing permissions on you average run-of-the mill FAT-
> > or NTFS-on-a-stick.
>
> Of course you are right, I now get the point of the query. I have
> an NTFS stick and anybody can copy/delete anything on it at any
> time it's been automounted - that's very much worth remembering
> for the future.

I'm not quite sure, but I believe that is only true for the user who 
automounted it. OTHO, on Windows, anyone can read and write to it 
(and, most of the time, mount it).
Even ext2/3/4 only remember the user's ID, so if a user with a 
different UID tries to access it, be that on the same or a different 
machine, they won't be allowed to. This has the fun side effect that 
you may not be able to access your own data on a different machine, 
while some random other user can.
But that is a different matter and fun for some other day. The thing 
to remember is that unencrypted data on a stick is never secure 
outside a safe.

> I've already got my username in /etc/group: plugdev,

It usually is, which is why, on a default install, you can automount 
stuff right away. If you can, however, *not* automount, this is 
something to check...

> I've not
> added it, never been sure what plugdev did anyway.

Well, you know now... ;-)

  --Reinhold