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ABIT's Secure IDE Motherboard
Frank Caviggia writes "The Inquirer has a story about ABIT's spiffy new IC7-MAX3 motherboard. Apparently, this motherboard has a feature called 'Secure IDE,' which is marketing-speak for hardware-based encryption ... ABIT goes on to claim that 'Secure IDE' 'will keep government supercomputers busy for weeks and will keep the RIAA away from your Kazaa files.' Pretty bold claims for a motherboard maker ..."
Now I can make a stealth pr0n server!!!
and will keep the RIAA away from your Kazaa files
That has to be one of the biggest marketing lies I've ever heard since 'Win98 doesn't crash...' as the PS/2 mouse was plugged in...
"Some things have to be believed to be seen." - Ralph Hodgson
Gestapo Internal Memo:
Remember people, when we break into homes with search warrants, you need to take the MOTHERBOARD now too!
The IC7-MAX3 is tuned up and ready to rumble. With ABIT's Game Acceleration Technology, users have the choice of three performance modes: Turbo, Street Racer and F1 to boost performance up to 17%.
Ok, maybe it's not a marketing lie. But. How seriously can you take anything with the settings 'Turbo', 'Street Racer' and 'F1'?
RIAA agents: Where are your Kazaa files, punk?
Me: I've got an Abit super protected IDE mainboard, fuck off Nazi pigs
RIAA agents (grinning): Then could you please show us a valid SCO-approved license for your Debian system?
My HD is encrypted with the key taken from GPS.
If the computer is moved, bye bye data. Now, THAT'S security!
So when your mother finally wises up and kicks you out of the basement, then WTF are you going to?
Speak truth to power.
keep your case open all the time so you can attach/detach it easily?
Um this is slashdot...how many cases aren't already open? Sorry just couldn't resist the obvious!
People in cars cause accidents....accidents in cars cause people
(paraphrased for sake of relevance)
Master Doe: This key will allow no one to see the contents of your hard drive due to the complicated encryption algorithm. Do you understand?
Master Tang: [nods head in agreement, pauses] No.. I don't understand.
The neutrality of this sig is disputed.
Judge: You will provide the USB key for the prosecution to view the hard drive
You: No.
Judge: Very well, you are in contempt of court and can sit in jail until you change your mind.
You. (scooby doo noise)
Acting on tips from an anonymous source (*cough* RIAA), U.S. soldiers invaded the homes of many citizens at home and abroad looking for the ever elusive Saddam MP3 FileSharer and his evil co-hort Osama Stole'Music and thier cache of MMDs (MP3s of Mass Destruction).
President Bush re-iterated that the MMDs exist saying, "I know they out there, our intellegence agencies downloaded a few of them last night."
Within the hour, both the CIA and FBI bave both denied that MMDs were downloaded. They go on to say, "infact our servers were hacked and used as a MMD store by the suspected country music terrorist group "Al'abama" "
No comment has been released from the NSA. It is suspected they didn't hear the phone ring on account of the volume the MMDs were being played at the verify the MMDs were *IN FACT* MMDs.
Film at 11.
If you lose the key, you're pretty much screwed if you don't have the hardware or patience to hack your way back in.
Isn't that a GOOD thing? That's good security right?
I don't want a secure IDE drive that "if you lose the key, you can snap your fingers and get all the unencrypted data back!"
okay, it's only 40-bit DES, which isn't super secure. But it's damned easy to use, and is plenty good enough for keeping my wife and kids from finding the naked pictures of my girlfriend.
Key what key? It was on the machine when the police took it, I have no idea what happend it after that your honor.
I don't need no stinking encryption. *I* have Windows XP, just let those government baddies try and get my hard drive! Soon as they plop it into another computer, the Windows XP registration assistant will notice that they don't have the proper hardware signatures and refuse to run the OS!
Please correct me if I screw something up here.
They said that the RIAA wouldn't be able to read the Kazaa files off your machine. Huh?
How does secure IDE do that?
Okay, you got WXP running. And you are running Kazaa, Real Player and whatever else. Obviously the encryption/decryption is done at the hardware level between the motherboard and the hard drive.
For this thing to have practical use to the general public it must be transparent to the OS.
Now the RIAA is getting information on people without invading peoples computers. They are using the Kazaa network and probably downloading MP3's just like anyone else. Then they look at the IP address and go from there.
I am just not seeing how secure IDE does anything to stop that.
The only way secure IDE would be helpful in the Kazaa situation is if it broke Kazaa.
As for the key.
I am not getting that at all. They are saying that it isn't password protected and it isn't a dongle.
It is hardware.
Well that sucks.
Now granted I have never had the privledge of having the FBI or the cops bust into my house and confiscate my PC.
But I seriously doubt they would waste there time cracking the case and taking the hard drives. Minnimal they would take the tower.
Hell they would confiscate everything. Consider all the stupid people that hide there passwords by tapeing them under the keyboard, taking your monitor might pay off for them.
So if they have the tower anyways then I ask again, how is secure IDE helping?
The only case I can see is if I decided a hard drive is bad and threw it away.
And I'll level with ya, when I do that I destroy the hard drive anyways. I don't need encryption. I pull the tape off the side and expose the breather whole. Then I take a screw driver and jam it in there real hard. I make damn sure that I scratch up both sides of the platters. I also try to knock the heads off.
I argue that my way is better then encryption anyways. It might take weeks for supercomputers to decrypt there encryption, but I would love to see a solution to the mess that I make with a screwdriver.