RIAA/MPAA accuses your company of allowing illegal music/movie downloads and no warrant is needed...<br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 2:13 PM, Bob Toxen <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:transam@verysecurelinux.com">transam@verysecurelinux.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;">It's gets better.<br>
<br>
M$ accuses your company of something bad. "Pay up or we'll shut down<br>
ALL of your company's Winboz computers." Bye bye Fortune 500 company.<br>
<br>
A hacker could do the same. Blackmail possibilities are unlimited.<br>
<div class="im"><br>
Bob Toxen<br>
<a href="mailto:bob@verysecurelinux.com">bob@verysecurelinux.com</a> [Please use for email to me]<br>
<a href="http://www.verysecurelinux.com" target="_blank">http://www.verysecurelinux.com</a> [Network&Linux security consulting]<br>
<a href="http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com" target="_blank">http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com</a> [My book:"Real World Linux Security 2/e"]<br>
Quality spam and virus filters.<br>
Quality Linux & UNIX security and SysAdmin & software consulting since 1990.<br>
<br>
</div><div class="im">"One disk to rule them all, One disk to find them. One disk to bring<br>
them all and in the darkness grind them. In the Land of Redmond where<br>
the shadows lie...and the Eye is everwatching"<br>
-- The Silicon Valley Tarot Henrique Holschuh with ... by Bob<br>
<br>
</div><div><div></div><div class="h5">On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 01:00:01PM -0400, Jim Kinney wrote:<br>
> All tools have both benign and nefarious uses and that one just scared<br>
> the bejeezus out me. Imagine a scenario where a particular laptop is<br>
> targeted, remotely activated over a wake-on-lan wireless NIC which<br>
> then is used to modify the bios to phone home on boot and report GPS<br>
> coordinates, upload keystroke logger, etc.<br>
><br>
> The potential for large-scale abuse it staggering. Maybe I _should_<br>
> keep some of my old hardware that required a physical _wire_ for WoL<br>
> to work.<br>
><br>
> Hmm. I recall seeing a similar remote capability in a thinkpad T20<br>
> bios. At that time, it required a mini-pci card to activate but once<br>
> activated, it could not be deactivated with out destroying the<br>
> computer.<br>
><br>
> where's my tin-foil beanie cap!<br>
><br>
> On Tue, Jun 16, 2009 at 12:42 PM, Michael H. Warfield<<a href="mailto:mhw@wittsend.com">mhw@wittsend.com</a>> wrote:<br>
> > $$!#@$@#!#!@<br>
> ><br>
> > That was not suppose to get sent yet... Fat fingers...<br>
> ><br>
> > On Tue, 2009-06-16 at 12:35 -0400, Michael H. Warfield wrote:<br>
> >> On Mon, 2009-06-15 at 18:34 -0400, Bob Toxen wrote:<br>
> >> > On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 02:52:24PM -0500, Preston Boyington wrote:<br>
> >> > > Geoffrey wrote:<br>
> >> > > > Anyone use any software like this? I'm considering it for my daughter's<br>
> >> > > > macbook as she heads off to Tech in the fall.<br>
> >> > > ><br>
> >> > > > Suggestions, recommendations?<br>
> >> > > ><br>
> >> > > > Anyone know of anything like this for Linux??<br>
> >> > > ><br>
> >><br>
> >> > > I would love a hardware solution. That way the thief wouldn't need to<br>
> >> > > power on the unit for the locator to work.<br>
> >> > Uh, is that like the Pointy Hair Boss saying that he wanted the unit<br>
> >> > to have a light that comes on when the battery is dead? Yes there was<br>
> >> > Dilbert about this. Sorry I couldn't resist.<br>
> >><br>
> >> > Seriously, this would be a device physically attached to this but not<br>
> >> > electrically connected -- since all such PCMCIA cards and such don't<br>
> >> > have power unless the laptop is running. Hence, it's not really laptop<br>
> >> > related as you could just as easily attach it to your pen (if it were<br>
> >> > small enough).<br>
> >><br>
> >> Actually, that's not totally true. PCI includes a backup power buss (B<br>
> >> Bus or something like that, I don't recall the exact nominclature) for<br>
> >> things like "wake on lan". If you didn't have that, wake-on-lan<br>
> >> wouldn't work. Certain very low level functions and powered and<br>
> >> operational even if you only have power to the device and don't have it<br>
> >> powered up.<br>
> ><br>
> > Wake-on-lan info:<br>
> ><br>
> > <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wake-on-LAN</a><br>
> ><br>
> >> The really scary extension to that is the Intel ATM / vPro technology.<br>
> ><br>
> >> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology" target="_blank">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology</a><br>
> ><br>
> >> "Almost all AMT features are available even if PC power is off, the OS<br>
> >> is crashed, the software agent is missing, or hardware (such as a hard<br>
> >> drive or memory) has failed."<br>
> ><br>
> >> Intel AMT supports these management tasks:<br>
> >><br>
> >> * Remotely power up, power down, power cycle, and power reset the<br>
> >> computer.[1]<br>
> >> * Remote boot the PC by remotely redirecting the PC’s boot<br>
> >> process, causing it to boot from a different image, such as a<br>
> >> network share, bootable CD-ROM or DVD, remediation drive, or<br>
> >> other boot device.[1][7] This feature supports remote booting a<br>
> >> PC that has a corrupted or missing OS.<br>
> >> * Remotely redirect the system’s I/O via console redirection<br>
> >> through serial over LAN (SOL).[1] This feature supports remote<br>
> >> troubleshooting, remote repair, software upgrades, and similar<br>
> >> processes.<br>
> >> * Access and change BIOS settings remotely.[1] This feature is<br>
> >> available even if PC power is off, the OS is down, or hardware<br>
> >> has failed. This feature is designed to allow remote updates and<br>
> >> corrections of configuration settings. This feature supports<br>
> >> full BIOS updates, not just changes to specific settings.<br>
> ><br>
> > There are other potential uses for the ATM technology and, if you can<br>
> > load certitificates and other software up there, there's quite a few<br>
> > possiblities. But it is intended to be tightly restricted. You can't<br>
> > update it from the normal running OS. But it is intended for remote<br>
> > management, EVEN WHEN THE MACHINE IS INITIALLY turned off. A "lojack"<br>
> > functionality has been discussed in some forums. I'm not aware of any<br>
> > product that actually takes advantage of it for those purposes and I'm<br>
> > not sure how widely deployed it is (like the accelerometers on our<br>
> > laptops, Bob, or VT/SVM capabilities for virtualization).<br>
> ><br>
> >> > > Early possibilities for this seem to be a company called S5 Wireless<br>
> >> > > (<a href="http://www.s5w.com/" target="_blank">http://www.s5w.com/</a>):<br>
> >> > ><br>
> >> > > <a href="http://www.gadgetvenue.com/s5-gps-like-tracking-device-is-tiny-12174830/" target="_blank">http://www.gadgetvenue.com/s5-gps-like-tracking-device-is-tiny-12174830/</a><br>
> >> ><br>
> >> > Bob Toxen<br>
> >> > <a href="mailto:bob@verysecurelinux.com">bob@verysecurelinux.com</a> [Please use for email to me]<br>
> >> > <a href="http://www.verysecurelinux.com" target="_blank">http://www.verysecurelinux.com</a> [Network&Linux security consulting]<br>
> >> > <a href="http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com" target="_blank">http://www.realworldlinuxsecurity.com</a> [My book:"Real World Linux Security 2/e"]<br>
> >> > Quality spam and virus filters.<br>
> >> > Quality Linux & UNIX security and SysAdmin & software consulting since 1990.<br>
> ><br>
> > Mike<br>
> > --<br>
> > Michael H. Warfield (AI4NB) | (770) 985-6132 | mhw@WittsEnd.com<br>
> > /\/\|=mhw=|\/\/ | (678) 463-0932 | <a href="http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/" target="_blank">http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/</a><br>
> > NIC whois: MHW9 | An optimist believes we live in the best of all<br>
> > PGP Key: 0xDF1DD471 | possible worlds. A pessimist is sure of it!<br>
> ><br>
> ><br>
> > _______________________________________________<br>
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> ><br>
> ><br>
><br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> --<br>
> James P. Kinney III<br>
> Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness<br>
><br>
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</div></div></blockquote></div><br><br clear="all"><br>-- <br>-- <br>James P. Kinney III<br>Actively in pursuit of Life, Liberty and Happiness <br><br>