Let's imagine for a moment that you're configuring a Linux box for a computer amateur, like your grandmother. If your grandmother is a technogoddess, imagine someone else's grandmother. She wants a graphical Web browser and e-mail client and nothing else, so you lock the system down very tight ... she can't get into any programs that she doesn't understand. Now let's say she calls you up and says something is wrong with the computer. You gather that it turns on and the screen lights up, but beyond that she's really not very descriptive about what exactly is happening. She's miles away from you, so you really don't want to go to her place or have her bring the computer to you. You kick yourself for not installing some sort of back door so you can dial into her machine and check it out as root. Now let's say you foresee this situation and do in fact install some sort of back door. What software do you use? How do you secure it so that other people don't hack her computer? How do you make it easy enough for her to start when she needs to without being so obvious that she starts it unnecessarily? --Ben