Passwords and System Security

Questions
1

Hi,
Question about passwords and Linux security. So Linux is much more secure than Windows and does not require Anti virus software because of it’s inherent structure. Also different than Windows is that your account is simply local to your machine. Your password is only authenticated locally on the machine so risk of interception is nil or very low. Can you have a low complexity or short password and still feel comfortable that your system is safe? What’s the risk of intrusion from hacking through the internet into your machine? Without sudo password can they do anything?

I’ve read some of the blog posts about passwords etc but that has to do with accounts that are online and account credentials get hacked and then those accounts are vulnerable. I do use a password manager for those, but this question is just about Linux login/admin passwords and system security.

What’s the risk to an individual Linux computer with firewall blocking all incoming traffic?

If your machine is stolen or lost, how hard is it for someone to crack a password to get into our machine?

Thoughts from different perspectives are welcome.
Thanks

2

The likelihood of being hacked through the internet on a Linux computer is low. Just be careful each time you are asked to enter the sudo password, and be especially careful when copying and pasting from the internet into the terminal.

I am not sure how important the strength of the sudo password is. I would think there are safeguards against a brute force type attack.

As for guarding against a stolen or lost machine, it is best to encrypt the important files by either encrypting the whole drive or creating encrypted containers, using a program like Veracrypt. Or even better, keep them stored offline.

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