Nsauditor Network Security Auditor - Advanced All-In-One Network Tools Suite!
  Recommended Product
Network Security Audit Software
Network Security Audit Software and Computer Security Tools
Download Learn More
Nsauditor Screencast
 
  Network Security Software
Network Bandwidth Monitor Network Bandwidth Monitor
NBMonitor tracks Internet bandwidth usage (upload and downloads) and shows process names initiated network connections...
Network Hardware Inventory Software Network Hardware Inventory Software
Nsasoft Hardware Software Inventory is a powerful network inventory software for home, office and enterprise networks...
BlueAuditor Monitors Mobile Devices in Wireless Network BlueAuditor Monitors Mobile Devices in Wireless Network
BlueAuditor is a wireless personal area network auditor and easy-to-use program for detecting and monitoring mobile devices in a wireless network...
Network Access Monitoring Network Access Monitoring
ShareAlarmPro allows easily perform network shares and folder monitoring, block unwanted users attempting to access secured shares...
Network Shares Monitoring Network Share Watcher
Monitors network folders permissions and identify shares which are violating company data access policy...
NetworkSleuth Network File Search Utili NetworkSleuth Network File Search Utiliy
NetworkSleuth is a network file searching utility, that allows you to quickly locate files across a network....
Product Key Finder Product Key Finder
Product Key Explorer enables you to quickly recover over 3000 popular software product keys from network computers...
Backup Key Recovery Crashed Drive Keys Recovery Backup Key Recovery Crashed Drive Keys Recovery
Backup Key Recovery retrieves product keys for Windows, MS Office, SQL Server, Adobe products and more than 2500 popular software products...
 
 

Network Security News

Windows 8 Secure Boot - Two Linux Distros Respond

June 22 , 2012 | ITNews.com

Controversy has been raging over Microsoft's Windows 8 Secure Boot plans ever since they were first revealed last fall, and there's still no sign that that will change anytime soon.

Now the leading Linux distributions are beginning to respond with an outline of how they plan to deal with the restrictions imposed by Microsoft's plans.

First it was Fedora, which revealed its strategy late last month. Then, this week Canonical spoke up in turn with its own plans for Ubuntu Linux.

The two distros are taking pretty different approaches. Here's an overview of what they've each said.

What We Know So Far

For those who missed it, a quick recap on what's coming our way: Basically, future Windows 8 hardware will come with the Secure Boot technology enabled in the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), meaning that only operating systems with an appropriate digital signature will be able to boot.

On ARM-based hardware, it apparently won't be possible to disable Secure Boot. On x86 Windows machines, however, Microsoft did soften its stance to make that option possible; alternatively, users could be permitted to enroll their own keys.

Since the topic arose, both the Free Software Foundation and the Linux Foundation have weighed in with their own views on the matter.

Fedora's Approach: 'Least Worst'

From Fedora's viewpoint, however, “it's not really an option to force all our users to play with hard to find firmware settings before they can run Fedora,” explained Red Hat developer Matthew Garrett in a blog post late last month.

Instead, Fedora will pay $99 to Verisign for unlimited use of Microsoft signing services, allowing its first stage boot loader to be signed with a Microsoft key.

“It ensures compatibility with as wide a range of hardware as possible and it avoids Fedora having any special privileges over other Linux distributions,” Garrett explained. “If there are better options then we haven't found them.”

The option “wasn't hugely attractive, but is probably the least worst,” he added.

It's worth noting that there's been considerable negative feedback from at least some parts of the community in response to Fedora's decision.

Canonical Weighs In: An Ubuntu Key Instead

As for Canonical, it's published a set of UEFI requirements targeting device manufacturers, and “it's basically the same set of requirements as Microsoft have, except with an Ubuntu key instead of a Microsoft one,” as Garrett pointed out earlier this week.

“The significant difference between the Ubuntu approach and the Microsoft approach is that there's no indication that Canonical will be offering any kind of signing service,” Garrett added. “A system carrying only the Ubuntu signing key will conform to these requirements and may be certified by Canonical, but will not boot any OS other than Ubuntu unless the user disables Secure Boot or imports their own key database.”

So, “a certified Ubuntu system may be more locked down than a certified Windows 8 system,” he noted.

'We Continue to Seek a Better Result'

On Wednesday, Canonical founder Mark Shuttleworth added comments of his own.

“We've been working to provide an alternative to the Microsoft key, so that the entire free software ecosystem is not dependent on Microsoft's goodwill for access to modern PC hardware,” Shuttleworth began.

"We're pressing OEM partners for options that will be more broadly acceptable than Red Hat's approach,” he added.

Ultimately, Secure Boot's design mandates that Microsoft's key is on every PC because of core UEFI driver signing, Shuttleworth pointed out.

“That and the inability of Secure Boot to support multiple signatures on critical elements means that options are limited,” Shuttleworth concluded. “But we continue to seek a better result.”

View more news...

 
  Most Popular Articles
 
 
  Email Subscriptions
Enter Your Email to be Notified of Software Updates:

 
 
  Popular Searches
network security magazine network security auditor network security news network security software corporate network security network security systems home network security product key finder password recovery software Network Bandwidth Monitor Network Access Monitoring data access policy monitoring remote shutdown Network File Search key recovery Network Monitoring Computer Security Ethical Hacking Network Security Network Inventory Software Information Security
 
 
  Partner Sites
Network Security Auditor
Nsauditor is a complete networking utilities package that includes more than 45 network tools and utilities for network auditing, scanning,network connections monitoring and more. For more information, please visit:
www.nsauditor.com


Password Recovery Software
SpotAuditor is All-in-one password recovery program that offers administrators and users a comprehensive solution for recovering passwords and other critical business information saved in users' computers. For more information, please visit:
www.password-recovery-software.com

Product Key Explorer
Product Key Explorer quickly recovers and displays product key, including Windows 7 keys, Windows Vista key, Windows XP product key, Microsoft Office 7 product key, MS office 2010 key, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe CS5, CS4, CS3, SQL Server, Electronic Arts games and more than 3000 popular software products:
www.product-key-explorer.com/