Exploit Found to Brick Most HP and Compaq Laptops

Ian Lamont writes "A security researcher calling himself porkythepig has published attack code that can supposedly brick most HP and Compaq laptops. The exploit uses an ActiveX control in HP's Software Update. It would 'let an attacker corrupt Windows' kernel files, making the laptop unbootable, or with a little more effort, allow hacks that would result in a PC hijack or malware infection.' The same researcher last week outlined a batch of additional vulnerabilities in HP and Compaq laptops, for which HP later issued patches."

Comments

!BRICK FFS

[caitsith01]

Corrupting a Windows install does NOT BRICK A GOD DAMNED LAPTOP. You can reinstall Windows and it will work. Therefore it is not a brick, it is not bricked, it has no aspect of brickishness, not even a hint of brickening.

What the HELL is wrong with you morons??? Do you even read Slashdot discussions? This has been pointed out over and over and over again.

Bricking involves killing something dead in such a way that it becomes, in effect, an expensive paperweight or 'brick' if you will. As you are clearly retarded, let me explain that a 'brick' is typically a rectangular piece of clay or similar material hardened in a furnace and used to construct buildings and other structures, and usually has no functionality beyond this. Unlike the device in this story, reinstalling Windows on an actual brick will not lead to increased capabilities.

Re:Two points about the article's headline.

[Nosklo]

But do these computers come with a recovery CD, or just a recovery partition? I've also read about recovery CDs that entirely reformat the computer's hard drive, taking My Documents with it. The point is, if you can use the computer after the exploit, it is not a brick, so it is not *bricked*. If you lost your documents or not has nothing to do with it.

Re:Donate how much to Wine?

[Jeremiah Cornelius]

For a fraction of the investment, support the development of POSIX portable apps, and dump the platforms which don't have POSIX calls and portable libraries.

Re:Two points about the article's headline.

[1u3hr]

Notwithstanding its actual existing specific meaning, "bricked" is fairly obviously now a slang term for when something electronic is, temporarily or permanently, inoperative.

No, it is being used by some headline writers like that. But not anyone knowledgeable. It still means "permanently" , not "temporarily" fucked. In this article, for instance, the post by the "hacker" who found this never uses the word "brick". Only the sensationalist headline writer.