| 1 |
On Mon, 2012-06-04 at 10:34 -0400, Michael Mol wrote: |
| 2 |
> On Mon, Jun 4, 2012 at 9:33 AM, BRM <bm_witness@×××××.com> wrote: |
| 3 |
> >> From: Michael Mol <mikemol@×××××.com> |
| 4 |
> > |
| 5 |
> >>On Sat, Jun 2, 2012 at 10:04 PM, BRM <bm_witness@×××××.com> wrote: |
| 6 |
> >>>> From: Michael Mol <mikemol@×××××.com> |
| 7 |
> >>[snip] |
| 8 |
> >>> In theory that's how key signing systems are suppose to work. |
| 9 |
... |
| 10 |
> >>I see something like SecureBoot as being useful in corporate and |
| 11 |
> >>military security contexts. I don't see it lasting in SOHO |
| 12 |
> >>environments. |
| 13 |
> > |
| 14 |
> > |
| 15 |
> >... |
| 16 |
> |
| 17 |
> And here's a use case that might seem worthwhile...Say you've got |
| 18 |
> hardware with SecureBoot. Now, you don't run Windows, so you don't |
| 19 |
> care about the UEFI BIOS having Microsoft's key. Instead, you're a |
| 20 |
> Linux guy, and you're very privacy conscious; perhaps you're a |
| 21 |
> security consultant or contractor. Or perhaps you're worried about |
| 22 |
> corporate espionage. Or perhaps you're simply afraid of governments. |
| 23 |
> |
| 24 |
> You can flush Microsoft's key from BIOS and insert your own. Sign your |
| 25 |
> bootloader, kernel and initramfs. Set up your / filesystem to be fully |
| 26 |
> encrypted. And configure things such that if BIOS isn't operating in |
| 27 |
> SecureBoot mode with your key, it won't even mount and decrypt your / |
| 28 |
> filesystem. |
| 29 |
> |
| 30 |
> You've just denied access to any existing forensic tool which would |
| 31 |
> either examine your hard disk or operate as a rootkit. The only thing |
| 32 |
> that's going to get your data is a live inspection of your RAM |
| 33 |
> (tricky! but doable.) or a rubber hose. |
| 34 |
> |
| 35 |
... |
| 36 |
|
| 37 |
We have a security researcher at work who specialises in the forensics |
| 38 |
side - expert witness in court and does data retrieval etc ... I dont |
| 39 |
think he has had anyone seriously try to hide anything yet, but if the |
| 40 |
above becomes common in the non-law abiding set, the govt will have it |
| 41 |
back doored or dissappeared (banned from sale or heavily controlled). |
| 42 |
"Think of the children ..." which is overused here in Oz comes to mind. |
| 43 |
|
| 44 |
Providing tools to strip cell phone data and PC hard disks seems to be a |
| 45 |
popular/profitable business to be in at the moment :) |
| 46 |
|
| 47 |
BillK |
Archives