Not really new, but IMHO preoccupying

[jaclaz]

http://arstechnica.com/civis/viewtopic.php?p=29497693&sid=ddf3e32512932172454de515091db014

 

a method Microsoft introduced with Windows 8 to allow the BIOS to execute code on boot up (!?!) called "Windows Platform Binary Table (WPBT)".

 

 

http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:H-SSYRAB0usJ:download.microsoft.com/download/8/A/2/8A2FB72D-9B96-4E2D-A559-4A27CF905A80/windows-platform-binary-table.docx+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us

 

Actual .docx is here:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/8/A/2/8A2FB72D-9B96-4E2D-A559-4A27CF905A80/windows-platform-binary-table.docx

 

The good Lenovo guys have already a set record for crappy, sneaky things in order to "enhance" the user experience, but the good MS guys IMHO this time are well past any possible decency in the misuse of firmware. 

 

It is unreal.

 

Besides the obvious open door for any kind of government three or more letter agencies, how long do you think it will take for someone else to find a way to make use of the mechanism?

 

Anyway, now a lot of things are more clear about the stupid UEFI and the senseless push for it, as the good MS guys - between the lines - say how they also pwn the firmware and can change it's contents (at least limited to WPBT) at will.

 

jaclaz

 

Edit: The Lenovo "mitigation" (remove the crappy tool and - supposedly - disable the "feature") is here:

https://support.lenovo.com/nz/en/product_security/lse_bios_desktop

Edited August 11, 2015 by jaclaz

[NoelC]

It is unreal.

 

Unfortunately, no, it's all too real. 

 

In all seriousness, you cannot fight the system.  As a smart, conscientious individual armed with more information and understanding than most, you can only game the system, keeping your head down and hoping you aren't noticed as you "opt out" of as many of the bad parts as you can, while at the same time trying to reap the benefits of the (remaining, receding) good parts.

 

It's in times like these that I thank my stars I have the high tech training and lifetime experience to understand much of what's going on, though to be completely honest at this point it's all moving at a pace so fast that no one can keep up with it all.  Imagine people for whom all this high tech stuff is just so much magic.

 

-Noel

[submix8c]

You bought the PC, it has a Licensed copy of Windows on it, but by doing this, we now control (own) your PC, not you. Good luck with putting any other OS on it.

 

Skynet, here we come...