August 02, 2006
Overblown
Here's a link to a video demonstrating how to completely hijack any Windows XP machine to which you can log in, even as a guest. In about 30 seconds you can go from a restricted guest login to superuser status above Administrator.
Sounds nasty, huh? Well, in one sense it is. Anyone who sits down at your computer can basically take it over unless you've disabled all guest access.
In another sense, it really isn't. If someone has physical access to your computer, you're pretty much screwed anyway. All you need to do is pop in a Knoppix disc or some equivalent and you've got unrestricted access to the computer.
I am aware that there are drive-level encryption algorithms people use to prevent this kind of thing, but short of that, if someone can physically sit down at your computer for any length of time, your computer is unsecure, and I don't think OS makes a difference. Password protected your BIOS? Great. That's nice. If they're sitting at the computer, it's a simple task to flash the CMOS, and locking the case is only a temporary obstacle.
This isn't the kind of security hole that most people should worry about. Most data isn't compromised that way, and this becomes more an issue of operational security than electronic security. The solution isn't to fix the "hole" in Windows - there are other ways of doing exactly the same thing without which you couldn't run any computer at all. The solution is to hire a freaking security guard to ensure that those people who have physical access to your computer are only those people who are supposed to.
