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I switch between Ubuntu and Windows7 workstations. I created a new text file in Ubuntu with some passwords and logins. Saved the file on an external drive.

Now in Windows when I select the file the permissions are set to "Everyone" "Full Access" I'm panicking a bit because doesn't that mean that file was available to all users on the Windows network? I've locked down the permissions in Windows now. Why does this happen and what can I do about it? Am I worrying about nothing? Thank you.

tomown
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  • What file system does your external device use? FAT? All FAT versions don't support user permissions. NTFS would do. And as long as you don't place the file into a shared folder, it won't be accessible over the network. – Byte Commander Sep 21 '15 at 09:43
  • Thank you for the reply. It's an NTFS formatted external drive. That's reassuring that it wasn't accessible over the network. Maybe it's a sign that FAT is the way to go when sharing files between OS's. I know NTFS was created by Microsoft, so the issue is to be noted henceforth when using NTFS drives on Ubuntu. – tomown Sep 21 '15 at 09:55
  • I don't know how you interpreted this. I just said that NTFS as well as ext4 both support setting permission attributes on files. Those restrict which users of the currently running system (by UserID) are allowed to access the file in what ways. FAT file systems simply discard all additional meta information of a file, like permissions, when you store it there. That means, on FAT, all files are accessible by all users. Always. – Byte Commander Sep 21 '15 at 10:25
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    @ByteCommander even NTFS when mounted in Linux by default uses full access. If you want to use NTFS protection bits, you must set up a Windows/Linux user mapping file --- see http://manpages.ubuntu.com/manpages/lucid/man8/ntfs-3g.8.html and http://askubuntu.com/a/74851/16395 . I never bothered to even try it ;-) – Rmano Sep 21 '15 at 14:31
  • and btw --- if I have physical access to a disk I can read every file in it. No matter the access and ownership bit (mount it as root on another computer and go). The only safety would be in strong encryption of the contents. – Rmano Sep 21 '15 at 16:18

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