A technician is securing a Linux workstation. One of the requirements is to remediate cleartext|passwords on the local system. Which of the following steps should the technician perform to BEST meet…

Question

Options

• AEnsure the /etc/hosts file is used on the system.
• BEnsure the /ete/shadow file is used on the system.
• CEnsure the /et?passwd file is used on the system.
• DEnsure the /etc/httpd file is used on the system.

• A
  84% (47)
• B
  5% (3)
• C
  2% (1)
• D
  9% (5)

Explanation

NOTE: The marked answer A (/etc/hosts) appears to be an error in the answer key. The /etc/hosts file maps hostnames to IP addresses for local DNS resolution and has no involvement in password storage or security. The correct answer for remediating cleartext passwords on Linux is B: /etc/shadow. Historically, /etc/passwd stored password hashes in a world-readable file-a significant security risk. The shadow password suite moves hashed credentials to /etc/shadow, which is readable only by root, ensuring passwords are never exposed in cleartext to ordinary users. /etc/passwd (C) is the legacy, insecure location. /etc/httpd (D) is an Apache web server configuration directory, entirely unrelated to system authentication.

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