jon@bitsy.mit.edu (Jon Rochlis) (02/03/89)
What is Kerberos and why is it needed? In an open network computing environment a workstation cannot be trusted to identify its users correctly to network services. Software on the workstations may not be trustworthly, so being a privileged user on a workstation is not a meaningful test of authenticity. Source network addresses are so easily forged that they are are meaningful either. Passwords sent uncrypted on the network are vulnerable to wiretappers. Kerberos provides an alternative approach whereby a trusted third-party encryption-based authentication service is used to verify users' identities. Much more information is available with the documentation (see below). How to get it: The first public release of the Kerberos Authentication System is ready for retrieval. Initial distribution will be by anonymous FTP; eventually 9-track tapes will be available. To retrieve the distribution, ftp to ATHENA-DIST.MIT.EDU (18.71.0.38), login as anonymous (password whatever you like, usually your username@host), then cd to pub/kerberos. Retrieve README.ftp, it has directions on how to get to the rest of the software. Distribution is split compressed tar files (xxx.Z.aa, xxx.Z.ab, ...). If you would like to retrieve documents separately, you can get them from pub/kerberos/doc (documents) or pub/kerberos/man (manual pages). If you prefer hardcopy of the documentation, send your address and request to "info-kerberos@athena.mit.edu". If you would like to be put on the Kerberos e-mail list ("kerberos@athena.mit.edu"), send your request to "kerberos-request@athena.mit.edu". I would like to thank the following people for their assistance in getting Kerberos in shape for release: Andrew Borthwick-Leslie Bill Bryant Doug Church Rob French Dan Geer Andrew Greene Ken Raeburn Jon Rochlis Mike Shanzer Bill Sommerfeld Jennifer Steiner Win Treese Stan Zanarotti FYI, the copyright notice: Copyright (C) 1989 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Export of this software from the United States of America is assumed to require a specific license from the United States Government. It is the responsibility of any person or organization contemplating export to obtain such a license before exporting. WITHIN THAT CONSTRAINT, permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in supporting documentation, and that the name of M.I.T. not be used in advertising or publicity pertaining to distribution of the software without specific, written prior permission. M.I.T. makes no representations about the suitability of this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty. -------- John Kohl MIT Project Athena/Kerberos Development Team