Did you know that the GNOME Desktop Manager supports two-factor authentication for protection?

The GNOME Desktop Manager (GDM) performs its user authentication through PAM (Pluggable Authentication Module). PAM is a highly configurable system used to control how authentication occurs.

One convenient authentication module enables PAM authentications to use the RADIUS protocol to consult an external RADIUS server for user access requests. (This also reduces the risk of the computer being compromised and passwords being stolen and reused elsewhere.) By using this system, the GNOME Desktop Manager can be integrated with GreenRADIUS, providing your desktop logins with all the security features and advanced 2FA strategies afforded by GreenRADIUS. To name just one example, GDM can be set to use push notifications on a mobile device as a second factor. Alternatively, the YubiKey offers you the power to control logins with a physical token.

The GNOME Desktop Manager is ubiquitous, available and easy to install on both the Ubuntu and CentOS families of Linux. Contact us to start securing GNOME with GreenRADIUS and two-factor authentication today!