<p>Sun systems had a password lock on boot and bios(whatever Sun called it) that was NOT erasable with a jumper. Lost password meant new board and LARGE repair bill.<br>
Admins who were evil would document a wrong bootup password so their dismissal would cause pain.</p>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Sep 19, 2011 1:01 PM, "Michael B. Trausch" <<a href="mailto:mike@trausch.us">mike@trausch.us</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution">> On Mon, 2011-09-19 at 12:56 -0400, Bob Toxen wrote:<br>
>> On Mon, Sep 19, 2011 at 12:30:45PM -0400, Michael B. Trausch wrote:<br>>> > On Mon, 2011-09-19 at 12:10 -0400, Bob Toxen wrote:<br>>> > > This is why it is critical to have both a bootloader (grub or<br>
>> lilo)<br>>> > > password and also a BIOS password. They can be set so that the<br>>> > > password is needed ONLY when booting other than the default device<br>>> > > (BIOS) or default kernel environment (bootloader). <br>
>> <br>>> > I have seen that functionality in a bootloader, but never before in<br>>> a<br>>> > BIOS. What systems come with a BIOS that has that feature, do you<br>>> know?<br>>> > That would be a nice feature to have. Then again, I'm not sure that<br>
>> it<br>>> > would matter: physical access means that you can wipe the BIOS<br>>> password,<br>>> > and then we're back at square one, being able to pwn the box.<br>>> EVERY i86 BIOS I have seen has this feature. Boot into the BIOS and<br>
>> go through the screens looking for an option to set the password,<br>>> sometimes called the "supervisor password". Just don't forget it.<br>>> (Yes, it can be erased by those who know how.) <br>
> <br>> On my systems, this simply prevents entering the BIOS.<br>> <br>> It does not disable or password-protect the boot list feature, however.<br>> So, I'd still be interested if you know a BIOS that does that.<br>
> <br>> (I'd also be interested if you know about a secure BIOS that doesn't<br>> have the "feature" of being able to have its password wiped in 45<br>> seconds...)<br>> <br>> --- Mike<br>
> <br>> -- <br>> A man who reasons deliberately, manages it better after studying Logic<br>> than he could before, if he is sincere about it and has common sense.<br>> --- Carveth Read, “Logic”<br>
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