Rik Farrow
We all have learned how important passwords are, that we must use them carefully and keep them secret. But what about usernames? Usernames are just as ubiquitous, and just like passwords, come with rules for creating new ones. In this talk, we'll take a look at usernames across the decades, from mainframes to the cloud, and learn exactly how usernames relate to security and how they have been used. It turns out that there are just two patterns to how usernames get used in operating systems for security, and both patterns are still used today. Understanding these patterns is useful to anyone concerned with security. It's also interesting that these patterns have remained in constant use, and where they are used.
Rik Farrow is the author of the first popular book on Unix security, and began teaching security in 1988. Farrow has designed courses for the NSA, NASA, USENIX, ISACA, UniForum, NorduNet and DKUUG. He taught Windows NT security in the late 1990s. He has been an editor for UNIXWorld Magazine and ;login:, the USENIX membership magazine and written hundreds of articles, many published worldwide. His Google Tech Talk, Security is Broken, has been presented at multiple Silicon Valley corporations and downloaded thousands of times. Rik lives with his wife in Sedona.
author = {Rik Farrow},
title = {Usernames, Passwords, and Security},
year = {2025},
address = {Seattle, WA},
publisher = {USENIX Association},
month = aug
}