From owner-freebsd-questions Sun Feb 1 14:39:42 1998 Return-Path: Received: (from majordom@localhost) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) id OAA19886 for questions-outgoing; Sun, 1 Feb 1998 14:39:42 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG) Received: from mail-ftp.nordicdms.com (mail-ftp.nordicdms.com [208.1.210.10]) by hub.freebsd.org (8.8.8/8.8.8) with ESMTP id OAA19854 for ; Sun, 1 Feb 1998 14:39:34 -0800 (PST) (envelope-from walton@nordicdms.com) Received: from mail-ftp (mail-ftp.nordicdms.com [208.1.210.10]) by mail-ftp.nordicdms.com (Post.Office MTA v3.1 release PO205e ID# 0-0U10L2S100) with SMTP id AAA234; Sun, 1 Feb 1998 14:39:33 -0800 Comments: Authenticated sender is From: walton@nordicdms.com (Dave Walton) Organization: Nordic Entertainment Worldwide To: "David E. Cross" , freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Date: Sun, 1 Feb 1998 14:39:32 -800 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII Content-transfer-encoding: 7BIT Subject: Re: FreeBSD boot banner (securing FreeBSD) Reply-to: walton@nordicdms.com References: <34D4E92B.C0BA0172@tdx.co.uk> In-reply-to: X-mailer: Pegasus Mail for Win32 (v2.52) Message-ID: <19980201223933481.AAA234@mail-ftp.nordicdms.com> Sender: owner-freebsd-questions@FreeBSD.ORG Precedence: bulk X-Loop: FreeBSD.ORG X-To-Unsubscribe: mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org "unsubscribe questions" On 1 Feb 98 at 16:59, David E. Cross wrote: > On Sun, 1 Feb 1998, Karl Pielorz wrote: > > > You could always set a BIOS password on the machine, make sure the case is > > very well secured (back to padlock again) - and disable the machine booting > > from the Floppy drive - which at least leaves it free for usage once booted? > > > Yes, this is what has already beeen done (BIOS password, with disabled > floppy drive for booting), but this is uselesss, as The FreeBSD boot-block > allows you to load the kernel from an arbitrary device (per the /boot.help > file), a person just need to have the install disk, and the fixit disk, > when the machinne comes up wait for the FreeBSD boot prompt, place the > install disk in the drive, enter -fd(0,a)/kernel... and viola, you have > root on the system without ever cracking a screw on the case. This really depends on what BIOS you have. I've seen PCs that have two BIOS passwords - one for access to the BIOS settings, and one for booting. If you get a system with such a BIOS (and lock the case), they'll need to know the boot password before they can get to the FreeBSD boot prompt. Dave ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dave Walton Webmaster, Postmaster Nordic Entertainment Worldwide walton@nordicdms.com http://www.nordicdms.com ----------------------------------------------------------------------