/etc/hosts.equiv verses $HOME/.rhosts

[Steven Bellovin]

In article <785 at venice.SEDD.TRW.COM>, waldorf at venice.SEDD.TRW.COM (Jerry Waldorf) writes:
> Could some kind sole tell me why using $HOME/.rhosts 
> is unsafe and why /etc/hosts.equiv is safe?  

/etc/hosts.equiv represents the administrator's (presumably informed)
decision to extend trust to certain other hosts, typically those also
under the same person's control.  .rhosts files represent a user's
decision to extend trust, often to a machine not worthy of it.