Configuring the Secure Attention Key

Configure the Secure Attention Key to create a trusted communication path.

Each terminal can be independently configured so that pressing the Secure Attention Key (SAK) at that terminal creates a trusted communication path. This is specified by the sak_enabled attribute in /etc/security/login.cfg file. If the value of this attribute is True, the SAK is enabled.

If a port is to be used for communications, (for example, by the uucp command), the specific port used has the following line in its stanza of the /etc/security/login.cfg file:

sak_enabled = false

This line (or no entry in that stanza) disables the SAK for that terminal.

To enable the SAK on a terminal, add the following line to the stanza for that terminal:

sak_enabled = true