secondary super user

Do you use sudo already?

AS ROOT the command in the Terminal is

Code:

usermod -a -G sudo <username>

Replace <username> with the username to which you want to grant sudo access.

Now logout & login to get sudo access to those users.

 

I agree with arochester.
Any users requiring root permissions should be added to the sudo group.

Additionally, the actual root account itself should be disabled - that should help prevent unauthorized users (like your hacker nuisances ) from being able to directly access the root account.

Also there are other measures like: disabling root login for SSH connections, using cryptographic keys for SSH connections instead of a password based login. That would also help keep hackers at bay.

See here:
https://access.redhat.com/documenta...rity_Guide/s2-wstation-privileges-noroot.html

 

AFAIK, there can be only one root user. Adding an ordinary user and adding them to the sudo group is one way of allowing a user to access root privileges. I don't know what the effect of adding them to the root group would be.

If you're worried about the root account being compromised, you could try resetting the password for the root account. Then create a user with sudo privileges and use that account to disable the root account and then perhaps limit the permissions of the rogue account you spotted, or simply remove it altogether, if you haven't already!