Security or market rigging?
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| salparadise Mar 23, 2006 10:05 PM EDT |
Secure Startup uses a chip called the Trusted Platform Module, or TPM, which offers protected storage of encryption keys, passwords and digital certificates. Vista uses this capability to verify that a PC has not been tampered with when it starts up and to protect data through encryption. The TPM is typically affixed to the motherboard of a PC. Because it is stored in hardware, the information is more secure from external software attacks and physical theft.
TPMs are made by a host of chip companies including Atmel, Broadcom, Infineon, Winbond Electronics, Sinosun and STMicroelectronics.
To service a PC, the Secure Startup feature can be temporarily disabled. And if a PC breaks and data on a hard drive needs to be accessed on, say, a different machine, a recovery key can unlock the system, Heil said. This recovery key is generated when a user enables Secure Startup and should be stored away from the computer.
[url=http://news.com.com/Microsofts leaner approach to Vista security/2100-7355_3-5843808.html]http://news.com.com/Microsofts leaner approach to Vista secu...[/url] The problem with all this is, it sounds to me like they're trying to come up with a way of stopping Windows being removed and replaced with Linux. This would be the ultimate in market rigging. Leaning on the hardware makers to provide some bullshit security measure which in reality just makes Microsoft have a greater stranglehold on the market. If this is coming down the line then no wonder some have drawn the conclusion that MS have "lost interest in attacking Linux". Because done properly this would cripple Linux as an alternative and would cause Microsoft to have already dismissed Linux as a consequence. If this is coming down the line then there is only one hope... That Microsoft have designed this system with their usual level of skill and dedication. Or, put another way, it'll get hacked by some 14 yr old within the first week. |
| grouch Mar 23, 2006 10:51 PM EDT |
Keep your old computers running. Save your friends from assimilation. People need to be educated that "Trusted" means "Treacherous", just as Stallman said back when Microsoft called it "Palladium". http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.html They're not talking about *you* trusting your computer; they're talking about RIAA, MPAA, Microsoft and partners trusting your computer to follow their orders. TPMs exist now. Can you trust your computer? |
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