[Reader-list] [The Moderates] Fwd: White Paper on secure boot

[A. Mani]

On Mon, Jul 2, 2012 at 7:38 PM, Mohammad Imran <dalibagh at gmail.com> wrote:
> This explanation is from someone who knows the IT industry well:
>
Not really.

> I have read about this a while back, and while it is an issue that will need
> to get worked out, it's certainly not an evil plan of Microsoft, and it will
> definitely get worked out.  For one thing, loads of Intel computers run Mac
> OS and UNIX, so large corporate interests won't allow this to happen on
> general PCs in ways that cause problems.
>

It is an evil plan, because of the M$ h/w manufacturer nexus.
Any closed code in h/w is a problem. Here we may not be able to switch
off/ modify secure boot.
It is not that only big companies use GNU/Linux. The extent of
adoption by desktop users is many times more than is estimated, as the
estimates are mostly 'doctored'.

> The real issue is for more special purpose devices - like smart phones and
> tablets.  For these, far fewer people care about running non-manufacturer
> operating systems.  It's pretty much just a small group of hackers that want
> to run Linux on their iPad or the android phone.  And even there, there are

That is wrong, the actual uptake of GNU/Linux is extremely high in that sector.

What is Android?

The whole embedded system / mobile computing industry will be affected.

> enough other vendors out there to make sure that things really don't get
> locked down in a commerical anti-competitive way.  So the home-brew hacker
> may not be able to install linux on his iPhone, a small company will
> certainly be able to get Intel or AMD to produce a version of their
> processor for a smart-phone that works with their OS.

>
> And there is a reason to do stuff like this - since it will help make sure
> that you don't get viruses or root-kits installed on your computer in ways
> that your OS and AV system can't detect.  So there is good reason for your
> processor to know what base-level OS components to trust, and these
> base-level OS components can then verify the higher-level OS components,
> which can then verify the applications.  Right now, if you get a root-kit
> installed on your system, your OS and AV may not be able tell that there's a
> virus running (since root kits hide their existence from even the OS), and
> so you might never know.
>

Only M$ windows has such a problem, but this will hardly help them in
securing their terrible OS.
It is not a big thing to crack them and even otherwise anything can be cracked.

It is more of a nuisance to hinder other operating systems and vendors.
It will lead to anti-trust cases and lot more.

(Btw, I use GNU/Linux and some bsd only).



Best

A. Mani



-- 
A. Mani
CU, ASL, CLC,  AMS, CMS
http://www.logicamani.in
http://www.logicamani.co.cc