User: BKCat

CPU Microcode is the next malware frontier

On: Research Inches Toward Processor-Specific Malware

The Holy Grail of malware would be to modify the microcode on the CPU. Once they can do that, they *own* the machine

The I/O Model

On: What's Wrong with Unix?

Jeez, where do I start?

The basic Unix I/O model is that of byte streams flowing around the system, and in and out of devices. Unfortunately, this model really only applies to tape drives; most devices have to be addressed first (such as a disk block number), and then read or written in discrete chunks (blocks, packets).