[Info-vax] VMS - Virtual Terminals - A security risk way back yonder OR was that an Old Wives Tale ?

[Johnny Billquist]

On 2016-02-11 12:33, IanD wrote:
> On Thursday, February 11, 2016 at 7:16:22 PM UTC+11, Johnny Billquist wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
>>
>> Are you talking about some application that allowed you to keep sessions
>> around, similar to screen and other tools in Unix today?
>>
>> Because otherwise I don't understand your text. Virtual terminals exists
>> in VMS. They are devices. I believe subsystems like BATCH depends on
>> them existing for things to work, so I have a hard time believing that
>> you are talking about the virtual terminal device... Or that it was
>> "removed".
>>
>> 	Johnny
>>
>> --
>> Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
>>                                     ||  on a psychedelic trip
>> email: xxxx                    ||  Reading murder books
>> pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol
>
> Here's a great description of what I am meaning by virtual terminals
>
> http://labs.hoffmanlabs.com/node/1109
>
> These were terminal devices that stayed alive if you disconnected, allowing you to reconnect later and resume
>
> They used to be good when you dialed up systems and the phone line would drop out on you
>
> I have not used them in a long long time, not even sure if they are still supported
>
> I was curious, as in, wondering, contemplating, dreaming about past times if there was actually an inherent security flaw in their design and that's what caused them to fall out of favour or at least in the site I went to all those years ago

Aha. The magic sauce seems to be the ability of the terminal driver and 
telnet server to use these. Thanks. That was the part I was missing, I 
think.

As for your questions - since I haven't used them I can't really say. 
But did you have to authenticate before reconnecting to an existing 
session? Otherwise I would consider that a serious security problem.

	Johnny

-- 
Johnny Billquist                  || "I'm on a bus
                                   ||  on a psychedelic trip
email: bqt at softjar.se             ||  Reading murder books
pdp is alive!                     ||  tryin' to stay hip" - B. Idol