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Vista banishes Linux... So stay XP

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Fr3@k3r

Fr3@k3r

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Reghardware reports of a new encryption called Bitlocker

Infosec Security features introduced in Windows Vista will make setting up PCs to boot in either Linux or Windows far more difficult, according to security guru Bruce Schneier. Vista is due to feature hardware-based encryption, called BitLocker Drive Encryption, which acts as a repository to protect sensitive data in the event of a PC being either lost or stolen.
Click to expand...

read the rest here

http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2006/04/27/schneier_infosec/
 
apparently the feature will not be optional from what iv been hearing over at msdn.... so no dual booting for linux folks if its true - theyre gonna force you to choose
 
Is this from the same company that could not stop Linux from being booted on there games console ?
We saw it also with CSS....
We saw it with OSX86
Where there is a will, there is a way, someone will get round it.

Quite why people do not believe this will not be optional is beyond me as its hardware supported, if memory serve me correctly microsoft do not control the hardware market so currently we do not know if this will even be featured on future motherboards.
All the system does is checks for the integrity of the Operating System, once this has been established.... it runs !!! This assures that no offline system tampering or attempts to boot another operating system have taken place.
It does not mean you can not install the OS of your choice in the first place, it simply is a method for checking that the Windows installation has not been tampered with.

Its not going to stop Linux from installing or running on the system, at worst its going to stop dual boot because during the integrity check it may notice the boot sector has altered... nothing more

Its also worth remembering at this time that throughout its development cycle Vista has lost more and more of the features it was supposed to have such as the WinFS filesystem... hell MS don't even know what the finished product is going to have yet, so I would not be surprised if this did not make the final cut and got shipped as a security addon with Windows Defender and some Antivirus
 
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Apparently the feature will not be optional from what iv been hearing over at msdn.... so no dual booting for linux folks if its true - theyre gonna force you to choose
Click to expand...

Buy some hearing aids: from http://www.microsoft.com/technet/windowsvista/security/bittech.mspx
4.1 Installation

As part of Windows Vista, BitLocker is installed automatically during OS install with Enterprise and Ultimate editions5. (Note that it is not automatically turned on.)
Click to expand...

In other news: the FTC opened an investigation into Linux software like TCFS, cryptoloop and rubberhose to examine possible restriction of interoperability with Microsoft Windows in dualboot situations...
 
...Wait... I must be missing something. Let's see if I have this straight:

1) BitLocker encrypts a partition.
2) People complain that they can't access the data stored on it from Linux.

Yup. Looks like I have it straight. How exactly is this much different than:

1) Linux creates an ext3 partition
2) People complain that they can't access the data stored on it from Windows.

Or, to only slightly mangle a quote from the article, "You could look at ext3 as anti-Windows because it frustrates dual boot"

Man, The Register has been putting out more-than-usual ammounts of FUD lately!
JigPu
 
^^^ good points - MS is bad for doing it, so i guess Linux is guilty as well then and has been for some time ?
 
bitlocker is disabled by default and you have to turn it on manually if you want to use it.....thats how its going to stay....

these claims are just false....i've had no problems dual booting anything with vista and thats how its going to remain.
 
JigPu said:
...Wait... I must be missing something. Let's see if I have this straight:

1) BitLocker encrypts a partition.
2) People complain that they can't access the data stored on it from Linux.

Yup. Looks like I have it straight. How exactly is this much different than:

1) Linux creates an ext3 partition
2) People complain that they can't access the data stored on it from Windows.

Or, to only slightly mangle a quote from the article, "You could look at ext3 as anti-Windows because it frustrates dual boot"

Man, The Register has been putting out more-than-usual ammounts of FUD lately!
JigPu
Click to expand...

My thoughts exactly. Proponents on boths sides of the line do not want ineroperability, and specifically make sure that Windows and Linux cannot play well with others. When it happens on the Linux side of things, it is never an attempt to prevent intoperability, in fact it is the fault of Microsoft for not releasing their proprietary information, but when Microsoft does it, "big Bill is hatin' on Linux again, can't we just be friends?"
On both sides, there are people trying to get the OSes to work together seamlessly so that their users can have the freedom to use the best product for their needs, and there are also people that do not want to see both operating systems working together as that signifies the loss of a potential sale.
Linux isn't free, it isn't being continuously updated and improved "by the people for the people" and to think so is just a lesson in naivete. In its current form, Linux has been funded by a cabal of very large corporations who see enough of a benefit in their server and mainframe sales to keep it free and fund development.
It is a digital cold war, and Linux and Windows are seperated by a digital Berlin wall. The wall will fall someday, but don't expect it any time soon...
 
FYI there are drivers to allow ext3 to be accessed in windows. I believe it has full read write support. There are also ways to read and write NTFS in linux. If MS comes out with something you dont like you dont have to buy it.
 
You can read data in linux but I dont think any driver allows you to write to it, I could be wrong though.
 
It allows you to write to NTFS but it is far fo perfect. Its slow as hell infact. But ext3 is easy to write to, etc in windows.
 
Didn't know there were ext3 drivers for windows -- that's actually pretty cool! I might get them if I decide to keep a Windows partition the next time I reformat. NTFS support is definatly there on the linux side, and is pretty good (ie, I've had zero problems with it) for still being experimental :)

JigPu
 
JigPu said:
Didn't know there were ext3 drivers for windows -- that's actually pretty cool! I might get them if I decide to keep a Windows partition the next time I reformat. NTFS support is definatly there on the linux side, and is pretty good (ie, I've had zero problems with it) for still being experimental :)

JigPu
Click to expand...
And that is the difference, since these filesystems are open source, that means that anyone has the right to make software that accesses Ext3, ReiserFS, and other types of partitions.

Is this from the same company that could not stop Linux from being booted on there games console ?
We saw it also with CSS....
We saw it with OSX86
Where there is a will, there is a way, someone will get round it.

Quite why people do not believe this will not be optional is beyond me as its hardware supported, if memory serve me correctly microsoft do not control the hardware market so currently we do not know if this will even be featured on future motherboards.
All the system does is checks for the integrity of the Operating System, once this has been established.... it runs !!! This assures that no offline system tampering or attempts to boot another operating system have taken place.
It does not mean you can not install the OS of your choice in the first place, it simply is a method for checking that the Windows installation has not been tampered with.

Its not going to stop Linux from installing or running on the system, at worst its going to stop dual boot because during the integrity check it may notice the boot sector has altered... nothing more

Its also worth remembering at this time that throughout its development cycle Vista has lost more and more of the features it was supposed to have such as the WinFS filesystem... hell MS don't even know what the finished product is going to have yet, so I would not be surprised if this did not make the final cut and got shipped as a security addon with Windows Defender and some Antivirus
Click to expand...

Thats the funny thing, they can crack Xboxs and DVDs, but 8 years after Win2k came out, I STILL can't write safely decent performance to NTFS in Linux.

I do think that this will be a feature rather than something forced on people. Probably an installation option. People just need to chill and wait until Vista is released (if/when? :p).
 
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I wonder how bitlocker will react to virus activity, will we find ourselves with a new breed of viruses created in a matter in which this system is used to protect them from removal or clean up... it could happen
I can not help but think of 'system restore' situation which effectively has the ability to back up viruses for use at a later date, could this be another security issue ?
 
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