Let PAM Take Care of GNU/Linux Security for You

“PAM gives us a simple alternative: if a program needs to
authenticate a user, it can call the PAM application programming
interface, and that API will take care of running whatever checks
you need, according to whatever rules you specify in your PAM
configuration files. You can even modify your authentication
mechanisms on the fly, and all PAM-aware applications will
automatically start using the new authentication method.

“Want to use biometric controls, such as fingerprint readers or
iris scanners? If the hardware maker provides a PAM, you are set;
you just have to include that module in your configuration files,
and from that point on your new device will be available for all
applications.”

Complete
Story