Re: security issue: hard disk lock

[Jonas Diemer <diemer@gmx.de>]

Hi Alan!

Thanks for the info

Am Montag 11. April 2005 17:36 schrieb Alan Cox:
> It makes little difference as the attacker can replace the kernel and
> reboot.
> Anyway they can flash erase your video card bios, your IDE firmware,
> your BIOS
> and far more just as easily.

Yes, but a new video-card or Motherboard can be easily bought (although it 
costs), but the data on a locked disk is lost forever, unless you pay for 
professional recovery (which is also a time-issue, if time critical data is 
stored on the disk). Of course, this can be solved with a good backup 
strategy...

I agree with you though, that this really isn't a kernel issue, but a BIOS 
thing. Distributors should/could provide additional security by freezing the 
security-features early during boot, until BIOS vendors do their homework.

regards,
Jonas

PS: Still not on the list, so please CC me in an eventual reply.