The consensus among new Unix and Linux users seems to be that sudo is more secure than using the root account, because it requires you type your password to perform potentially harmful actions. In reality, a compromised user account, which is no big deal normally, is instantly root in most setups. This sudo thinking is flawed, but sudo is actually useful for what’s it was designed for.

Read the full thing at http://www.longitudetech.com/blog/linux-unix/the-perils-of-sudo-with-user-passwords/