Kerberos

Kerberos is a network security package which provides for a way to make a connection across a network with a high degree of resistance to security attacks such as eavesdropping on the network. There are two main versions of the Kerberos protocol, Kerberos 4 and Kerberos 5, which are not compatible with each other. Typically Kerberos support will be built into applications such as telnet, FTP, rlogin, rsh, &c, and one will get a kerberized version of each application if one wants to run kerberos.

Mailing lists and newsgroups

The comp.protocols.kerberos newsgroup is the main newsgroup for discussing kerberos. The comp.security.gss-api group may also be relevant, especially if one is kerberizing an application or protocol (the GSS-API is the preferred API and protocol binding for Kerberos 5).

The newsgroup is gatewayed to a mailing list and there are also lists for specialized purposes; see the official Kerberos web site below for details.

How to get Kerberos

Some operating systems (especially BSD4.4-based variants of unix) come with kerberos and kerberized applications such as rlogin, rsh, &c.

Failing that, see the Kerberos or Cygnus links below.

Paid Support

Many companies sell proprietary versions of kerberos, but few if any support the freely redistributable versions. Cygnus used to, but stopped offering support to new customers on 3 Sep 1997.

For more information

See the official Kerberos web site at MIT.

Cygnus's KerbNet version of kerberos is freely redistributable and available for free download. In the past the Cygnus version has been easier to install and use than the MIT version, although any such assessment is subject to change with newer versions.

Another implementation, particularly of interest to those outside the US, is Heimdal. The same folks also have an international version of kerberos 4.