If you read the paper in detail, it says that the attacks affect Bitlocker, not all TPM based security. They do not compromise the authenticated boot capability of the TPM. You still cannot pretend to have booted a different system to the one you have.
There are plenty of things to criticise about Trusted Computing, but spotting boot-process malware is one thing it does very well. It works for the question "has this platform been booted with the correct software?" but not "has this platform always been booted with the correct software?"
It's situation dependent, of course, and it may not provide the necessary security guarantees that are required for cloud computing. But it comes much closer than a purely software-based solution can.
Yes, but this requires physical access. The TPM is designed to prevent (or make noticeable) purely software-based attacks. This changes the risk considerably. If you have some confidence in physical security, you're now in a much stronger position.
While what you say is broadly true, it isn't about absolute security, but about raising the bar high enough. If you make it more difficult to break the security than access to the machine is worth, you've won, even if the security isn't perfect.
In some areas, CCTV does a fantastic job. In Burges s Hill (a town near where i live in the UK) vandalism was completely stopped when a set of cameras was installed next to a local shop. What was a hotpoint of crime and a nasty place to walk at night has become a pretty safe area.
However, the CCTV in this case is possibly only masking the causes of crime. The same people stealing car stereos (do people still do that?) are out there, but in a new, camera free zone.
As a result, the police then introduce more and more cameras in each of these problem areas until the whole town is under constant surveilence.
The potentials for abuse are huge. Members of legitimate anti-government groups can be tracked and then linked to completely unrelated crimes. Your identity, location and friends are known to the government. Not good.
Which is why people have to make sure that the line does not get crossed - some CCTV is OK, but not too much. Some proof of identity - driving licences - are only sensible, whereas national ID card schemes are way overboard.
Having just sat (2 hours ago) a "Mathematical Methods and Graphics" exam in my first year Computing MEng degree course, I can happily clarify that although math majors may not be able to program... Lots of CS Majors can't do the maths!
Argh. If i ever have to see another complex number, I may shoot myself.
Oh, and if anyone at Imperial is reading this... hope yours didn;t go as badly as mine!
I've got an old HP DeskJet 500 still hooked up to our network server at home, and although the quality is not brilliant, its certainly sufficient for any amount of text.
Obviously you can't use it (or the 500c, which we also have at home) for photo quality, but for text ours is still adequet. Yes it's slow, and does not have the highest resolution, but compared to the average printer these days, at least it's still usable!
HP always used to make quality printers. Their design model for printers and server cases must have been something along the lines of "is able to withstand several nuclear attacks." now *that's* good hardware.
Yeh i did the same, some of my favorites were: -Hotblack Desiato -The Lajestic Vantrashell Of Lob -Wowbagger the infinitely prolonged -Zarquon! -Slartibartfast -Roosta (and this is my towel) -Wonko the sane
Missing the point, and what consumers want.
on
Gadgets of 2002
·
· Score: 1
quick summary... (can you say 'redundant'?)
Basically the article is full of generalisations and seems to miss what the users want. Technology will improve and get smaller and better, i would hardly expect anythign else. I think the likelyhood of 'revolutionary' changes is fairly low but then how can we predict it? Silly article IMHO.
In a phone i want (i dont have a mobile btw) long battery life, useable interface and thats it. I really dont want WAP or anything.
I use minidisk personally, as MP3 hasn't been cheap or good enough recently, but if i changed to MP3 i would want the following: Long battery time, say 20 hours or so, large disk space - a few gigs would do at minimum, and decent sound quality. I dont care how big it is as long as i can fit it in my (large) jacket pocket just about.
Until an MP3 player that is cheap as Minidisk (£130 ish or less) comes out with these features i'm not upgrading.
State of the art sail technology... well i hope... and yes, thy put it on plywood. Comon guys, a mirror?!
Genius, Genius. Although having said that i cant for the life of me think of any better alternatives;-)
Oh and BTW the *real* sailing capital of the word (for dingies at least) is one of the fantastic clubs in the UK, such as Weymouth, Hayling or Grapham.... want proof? check the olympics
I just bough a new KVM switch for my to-be linux box - for a mere £50ish pounds sterling. Its brilliant, has almost everything i want - 2 ports, hotkeys, high quality etc. Bit of a flicker sometimes after switching but no problems.
The reason i write this is that ive been looking for a decent round up in ages, and wanted one with audio and USB. So a few weeks after ive bought, this comes out! yay! Ah well i can cope.
ps OT, but anyone else have an old HP Netserver E45... a few technical probs im having
Much as a cashless society has its advantages, and to some extent would make life easier, i want no part in it.
if you decide to spend cash money, it is basically untraceble. You can do with it what you will, and nobody is any the wiser. This is not possible with credit cards. How long before your pay cheques/deposits have code in them to prevent transactions with certain other companies? Government could instate a law to bad any transactions involving alcohol or other such things.
What would happen in the case of computer error or bad data? at least if you have the real money there are few arguments as to if its legitimate. (come to think of this, this could be a good way to remove bank robberies etc)
We're already to much under the eyes of organisations and, call me paranoid, i dont like it. If you cant cheat your taxes, confuse the system by paying slightly too much. Introducing human erorr makes electronic systems difficult to support!
I love Red Dwarf, and have to agree the last few series have been awful in comparison. The are also some excellent older sci-fi, such as The Hitch Hiker's Guide (naturally)
Star Trek (whatever flavour) isn't bad in my opinion, worth watching if youve got nothing better to do. Although DS9 is awful!
I personnally couldnt hack Blake 7 or a few of the slightly more naff sci-fi's... but thats me inviting flames!
Futurama: excellent, worth watching. Farscape isnt bad, and neither is 7 days... but is it just me or do american 'hero' actors with 'attitude' come 2 a penny (cent?) at the moment? Ive got a bit bored with those two recently though.
Sliders: brilliant but bizzarre... goes a bit star trek-esq and off the plot at times but still quite exciting stuff with sometimes a few interesting ideas!
I agree with some of what he is saying here, Microsoft do rely on Office as its ONLY DECENT SOFTWARE (and yes a few others...)
What i dont agree with is that Linux will ever overtake Microsoft or other OS's designed for desktops. Sure, it'll grow and get bigger and a more viable option, but its still not easy enough to use for Joe Average. Maybe im getting the wrong end of the stick here, but Linux's greatest strengths - its open source, reliability and power - just arent going to appeal to the newbie user.
What I believe Microsoft are scared of is all the servers going Linux, and all the developers too! If the best people turn linux, then the best applications too, then anything could happen.
Oh, and what will Microsofts' best line of attack be? Advertising, Diversity and incompatibility.
Advertising: They can chuck serious money at advertising Windows, and make expensive deals with other monopolys/software companies.
Diversity: They can get their paws into every part of the software and hardware industry (palm tops, the X box, etc) before Linux and other open source programs can get into the desktop scene.
Incompatibility: Don't be fooled, Microsoft will not tolerate software that they don't 'like'. Dozens of examples of Microsoft not supporting standards or new products can kill the software AND any companies who release it.
Well the futures bright, but it is THE FUTURE, and is still a long way away
Re:Jeeeze, the moderation nowadays....
on
Star In A Jar
·
· Score: 1
Is great im sure... to set the records perfectly straight: (according the the wobbydowoppian theory)
(a)Dark energies are ridiculous... everyone knows that the whole universe is really comprised of very very very small particles called not QUARKS, but QUACKS... an entirely different metaphorical heating device of sea based organisms.
(b)-Neils Bohr is, quite frankly, his own business.
(c)Dark Matter is again a myth.... *everyone* knows this is what makes snooker player's chins so frictionless, and causes toast to be butter side down. it is the law of the universe that states 'sod physics'
(d)Here he is right... exoctic matter is impossible, as we have run out of pink cocktail umbrellas. it would merely be 'cheap' matter.
(e)Phasic laser beams are the same as normal laser beams, just they are Purple Heterozygous Anomalous Sociopathic Intracellular Cantankerous. Lasers
(f)No, here everyone is wrong. it is meant to be YETI interference... the large beasts in the Alps (yes, alps, not himalas, as i cannot spell that) who are so incredibly evolved that they themselves give out em pulses that distort the dark quantummy wotsits.
IMHO there is a big problem with the whole WAP mobile internet idea.
Along comes new great technology that allows us to connect to the Internet with mobiles! wahey! onyl problem is.....
...we have to use an awful interface and tiny screens with low resolutions.....
....we have to put up with slow speeds and a lack of content....
....we have to fork out more money, when internet access at home is free (or almost)....
do we really *need* internet access on mobiles? At work/school we can access the internet, we can too at home. If we're on holiday there are thousands of internet cafes. Can this new technology to replace WAP offer us anything practical or genuinely useful?
hmm, reminds me of a hitch hiker quote...
America is a finite space.
The universe is infinite
Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, therefore America doesnt exist.
No wonder they're going to space:)
Slashdot Mirror
If you read the paper in detail, it says that the attacks affect Bitlocker, not all TPM based security. They do not compromise the authenticated boot capability of the TPM. You still cannot pretend to have booted a different system to the one you have.
There are plenty of things to criticise about Trusted Computing, but spotting boot-process malware is one thing it does very well. It works for the question "has this platform been booted with the correct software?" but not "has this platform always been booted with the correct software?"
It's situation dependent, of course, and it may not provide the necessary security guarantees that are required for cloud computing. But it comes much closer than a purely software-based solution can.
Yes, but this requires physical access. The TPM is designed to prevent (or make noticeable) purely software-based attacks. This changes the risk considerably. If you have some confidence in physical security, you're now in a much stronger position.
While what you say is broadly true, it isn't about absolute security, but about raising the bar high enough. If you make it more difficult to break the security than access to the machine is worth, you've won, even if the security isn't perfect.
but you can't even be sure that the bootloader of your virtual server isn't messed with
Trusted Computing would let you do exactly that. Which is why Trusted Cloud Computing has been suggested.
You can find a list of known Trusted Platform Module (TPM) manufacturers and implementations from the TPM Matrix
It's a fine line to cross.
In some areas, CCTV does a fantastic job. In Burges s Hill (a town near where i live in the UK) vandalism was completely stopped when a set of cameras was installed next to a local shop. What was a hotpoint of crime and a nasty place to walk at night has become a pretty safe area.
However, the CCTV in this case is possibly only masking the causes of crime. The same people stealing car stereos (do people still do that?) are out there, but in a new, camera free zone.
As a result, the police then introduce more and more cameras in each of these problem areas until the whole town is under constant surveilence.
The potentials for abuse are huge. Members of legitimate anti-government groups can be tracked and then linked to completely unrelated crimes. Your identity, location and friends are known to the government. Not good.
Which is why people have to make sure that the line does not get crossed - some CCTV is OK, but not too much. Some proof of identity - driving licences - are only sensible, whereas national ID card schemes are way overboard.
Both sides of this argument are correct, sort of.
Cheers,
Having just sat (2 hours ago) a "Mathematical Methods and Graphics" exam in my first year Computing MEng degree course, I can happily clarify that although math majors may not be able to program... Lots of CS Majors can't do the maths!
Argh. If i ever have to see another complex number, I may shoot myself.
Oh, and if anyone at Imperial is reading this... hope yours didn;t go as badly as mine!
Err, are we meant to be able to download from their 'password restricted download site' ?
If you just dont enter a username or password you can get at everything. whats going on there?
I've got an old HP DeskJet 500 still hooked up to our network server at home, and although the quality is not brilliant, its certainly sufficient for any amount of text.
Obviously you can't use it (or the 500c, which we also have at home) for photo quality, but for text ours is still adequet. Yes it's slow, and does not have the highest resolution, but compared to the average printer these days, at least it's still usable!
HP always used to make quality printers. Their design model for printers and server cases must have been something along the lines of "is able to withstand several nuclear attacks." now *that's* good hardware.
Shame the cartridge has run out, really :(
Yeh i did the same, some of my favorites were:
-Hotblack Desiato
-The Lajestic Vantrashell Of Lob
-Wowbagger the infinitely prolonged
-Zarquon!
-Slartibartfast
-Roosta (and this is my towel)
-Wonko the sane
Well done, best wishes for the future.
/.er's eyes!
youve brought a tear to every
congratulations.
quick summary... (can you say 'redundant'?)
Basically the article is full of generalisations and seems to miss what the users want. Technology will improve and get smaller and better, i would hardly expect anythign else. I think the likelyhood of 'revolutionary' changes is fairly low but then how can we predict it? Silly article IMHO.
In a phone i want (i dont have a mobile btw) long battery life, useable interface and thats it. I really dont want WAP or anything.
I use minidisk personally, as MP3 hasn't been cheap or good enough recently, but if i changed to MP3 i would want the following: Long battery time, say 20 hours or so, large disk space - a few gigs would do at minimum, and decent sound quality. I dont care how big it is as long as i can fit it in my (large) jacket pocket just about.
Until an MP3 player that is cheap as Minidisk (£130 ish or less) comes out with these features i'm not upgrading.
hey hey just because my email address is john@johnsoftware..... :)
After several large cups of coffee and a bit of luck i did some maths, and worked out a feasible answer.
then i threw that away and just guessed a random number.
so 144 petabytes, thatd be one 5minute track at... ooh....
230584300921369395.2 kb/sec?
sounds good to me :)
State of the art sail technology... well i hope... and yes, thy put it on plywood. Comon guys, a mirror?!
Genius, Genius. Although having said that i cant for the life of me think of any better alternatives ;-)
Oh and BTW the *real* sailing capital of the word (for dingies at least) is one of the fantastic clubs in the UK, such as Weymouth, Hayling or Grapham.... want proof? check the olympics
I just bough a new KVM switch for my to-be linux box - for a mere £50ish pounds sterling. Its brilliant, has almost everything i want - 2 ports, hotkeys, high quality etc. Bit of a flicker sometimes after switching but no problems.
The reason i write this is that ive been looking for a decent round up in ages, and wanted one with audio and USB. So a few weeks after ive bought, this comes out! yay! Ah well i can cope.
ps OT, but anyone else have an old HP Netserver E45 ... a few technical probs im having
Much as a cashless society has its advantages, and to some extent would make life easier, i want no part in it.
if you decide to spend cash money, it is basically untraceble. You can do with it what you will, and nobody is any the wiser. This is not possible with credit cards. How long before your pay cheques/deposits have code in them to prevent transactions with certain other companies? Government could instate a law to bad any transactions involving alcohol or other such things.
What would happen in the case of computer error or bad data? at least if you have the real money there are few arguments as to if its legitimate. (come to think of this, this could be a good way to remove bank robberies etc)
We're already to much under the eyes of organisations and, call me paranoid, i dont like it. If you cant cheat your taxes, confuse the system by paying slightly too much. Introducing human erorr makes electronic systems difficult to support!
Brilliant comment!
I love Red Dwarf, and have to agree the last few series have been awful in comparison. The are also some excellent older sci-fi, such as The Hitch Hiker's Guide (naturally)
Star Trek (whatever flavour) isn't bad in my opinion, worth watching if youve got nothing better to do. Although DS9 is awful!
I personnally couldnt hack Blake 7 or a few of the slightly more naff sci-fi's... but thats me inviting flames!
Futurama: excellent, worth watching. Farscape isnt bad, and neither is 7 days... but is it just me or do american 'hero' actors with 'attitude' come 2 a penny (cent?) at the moment? Ive got a bit bored with those two recently though.
Sliders: brilliant but bizzarre... goes a bit star trek-esq and off the plot at times but still quite exciting stuff with sometimes a few interesting ideas!
Well thats my list, dont know if anyone cares...
I agree with some of what he is saying here, Microsoft do rely on Office as its ONLY DECENT SOFTWARE (and yes a few others...)
What i dont agree with is that Linux will ever overtake Microsoft or other OS's designed for desktops. Sure, it'll grow and get bigger and a more viable option, but its still not easy enough to use for Joe Average. Maybe im getting the wrong end of the stick here, but Linux's greatest strengths - its open source, reliability and power - just arent going to appeal to the newbie user.
What I believe Microsoft are scared of is all the servers going Linux, and all the developers too! If the best people turn linux, then the best applications too, then anything could happen.
Oh, and what will Microsofts' best line of attack be? Advertising, Diversity and incompatibility.
Advertising: They can chuck serious money at advertising Windows, and make expensive deals with other monopolys/software companies.
Diversity: They can get their paws into every part of the software and hardware industry (palm tops, the X box, etc) before Linux and other open source programs can get into the desktop scene.
Incompatibility: Don't be fooled, Microsoft will not tolerate software that they don't 'like'. Dozens of examples of Microsoft not supporting standards or new products can kill the software AND any companies who release it.
Well the futures bright, but it is THE FUTURE, and is still a long way away
Is great im sure... to set the records perfectly straight: (according the the wobbydowoppian theory)
(a)Dark energies are ridiculous... everyone knows that the whole universe is really comprised of very very very small particles called not QUARKS, but QUACKS... an entirely different metaphorical heating device of sea based organisms.
(b)-Neils Bohr is, quite frankly, his own business.
(c)Dark Matter is again a myth.... *everyone* knows this is what makes snooker player's chins so frictionless, and causes toast to be butter side down. it is the law of the universe that states 'sod physics'
(d)Here he is right... exoctic matter is impossible, as we have run out of pink cocktail umbrellas. it would merely be 'cheap' matter.
(e)Phasic laser beams are the same as normal laser beams, just they are Purple Heterozygous Anomalous Sociopathic Intracellular Cantankerous. Lasers
(f)No, here everyone is wrong. it is meant to be YETI interference... the large beasts in the Alps (yes, alps, not himalas, as i cannot spell that) who are so incredibly evolved that they themselves give out em pulses that distort the dark quantummy wotsits.
IMHO there is a big problem with the whole WAP mobile internet idea.
Along comes new great technology that allows us to connect to the Internet with mobiles! wahey! onyl problem is.....
...we have to use an awful interface and tiny screens with low resolutions.....
....we have to put up with slow speeds and a lack of content....
....we have to fork out more money, when internet access at home is free (or almost)....
do we really *need* internet access on mobiles? At work/school we can access the internet, we can too at home. If we're on holiday there are thousands of internet cafes. Can this new technology to replace WAP offer us anything practical or genuinely useful?
Seems unlikely, and expensive....when in chat rooms, just pretend to be from belgium, or better still - Iceland. Just call me Magnus Magnusson!
hmm, reminds me of a hitch hiker quote... America is a finite space. The universe is infinite Any finite number divided by infinity is as near to nothing as makes no odds, therefore America doesnt exist. No wonder they're going to space :)