Pentium 4 loophole could let in hackers

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Academic I assume...

So many organizations have so little regard to security that this is merely of academic interest. I've seen backup tapes left in unsecured locations, server rooms with open access even though some have had some sort of security measures put in place. I've seen senior managers have their systems setup so they automatically login when powered on because they can't remember a password. One general manager used the same password for everything and even told people around what it was! One systems administrator used the company's zip code for all administrator passwords of his servers. And this obscure loophole in some hardware which would take a Phd many hours of work to write code to access it, if we think this is important against the most common security problems then we are missing the boat.

Recently a banks systems were compromised by cleaning staff inserting key loggers on every computer, collecting them later and if that was not enough they returned later with thumb drives which held specially written software from the information gathered which wired millions to bank accounts all over the globe. You think your company is safe, think again.

If there were a need to use the loophole in the P4 then it would be used but when most organizations leave the stable door open why bother, just walk in...

It's too easy to get carried away with something interesting and forget the obvious. Most criminals usually use the obvious, the easy, like everyone else they don't want to work more than they need. For good security you have to deal with the simple stuff first, you know the boring stuff and build from there.

Posted by: agottschald   Posted on: 05/18/05 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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