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Public Administration

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Submitted By TERREZELLIS
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Terrez Ellis 68745
February 2, 2011
A+ Computer Operating Systems Crt 1101
Physical Security

Physical Security
The first layer of security you need to take into account is the physical security of your computer systems. Who has direct physical access to your machine? Should they? Can you protect your machine from their tampering? Should you?
How much physical security you need on your system is very dependent on your situation, and/or budget.
If you are a home user, you probably don't need a lot (although you might need to protect your machine from tampering by children or annoying relatives). If you are in a lab, you need considerably more, but users will still need to be able to get work done on the machines. Many of the following sections will help out. If you are in an office, you may or may not need to secure your machine off-hours or while you are away. At some companies, leaving your console unsecured is a termination offense.
Obvious physical security methods such as locks on doors, cables, locked cabinets, and video surveillance are all good ideas, but beyond the scope of this document. :)
Computer locks
Many modern PC cases include a "locking" feature. Usually this will be a socket on the front of the case that allows you to turn an included key to a locked or unlocked position. Case locks can help prevent someone from stealing your PC, or opening up the case and directly manipulating/stealing your hardware. They can also sometimes prevent someone from rebooting your computer from their own floppy or other hardware.
These case locks do different things according to the support in the motherboard and how the case is constructed. On many PC's they make it so you have to break the case to get the case open. On some others, they will not let you plug in new keyboards or mice. Check your motherboard or case instructions for more information. This can sometimes be a very useful feature, even though the locks are usually very low-quality and can easily be defeated by attackers with locksmithing.
Some machines (most notably SPARC's and macs) have a dongle on the back that, if you put a cable through, attackers would have to cut the cable or break the case to get into it. Just putting a padlock or combo lock through these can be a good deterrent to someone stealing your machine.
BIOS Security
The BIOS is the lowest level of software that configures or manipulates your x86-based hardware. LILO and other Linux boot methods access the BIOS to determine how to boot up your Linux machine. Other hardware that Linux runs on has similar software (Open Firmware on Macs and new Suns, Sun boot PROM, etc...). You can use your BIOS to prevent attackers from rebooting your machine and manipulating your Linux system.
Many PC BIOSs let you set a boot password. This doesn't provide all that much security (the BIOS can be reset, or removed if someone can get into the case), but might be a good deterrent (i.e. it will take time and leave traces of tampering). Similarly, on S/Linux (Linux for SPARC(tm) processor machines), your EEPROM can be set to require a boot-up password. This might slow attackers down.
Another risk of trusting BIOS passwords to secure your system is the default password problem. Most BIOS makers don't expect people to open up their computer and disconnect batteries if they forget their password and have equipped their BIOSes with default passwords that work regardless of your chosen password. Some of the more common passwords include: j262 AWARD_SW AWARD_PW lkwpeter Biostar AMI Award bios BIOS setup cmos AMI!SW1 AMI?SW1 password hewittrand shift + s y x z
I tested an Award BIOS and AWARD_PW worked. These passwords are quite easily available from manufacturers' websites and http://astalavista.box.sk and as such a BIOS password cannot be considered adequate protection from a knowledgeable attacker.
Many x86 BIOSs also allow you to specify various other good security settings. Check your BIOS manual or look at it the next time you boot up. For example, some BIOSs disallow booting from floppy drives and some require passwords to access some BIOS features.
Note: If you have a server machine, and you set up a boot password, your machine will not boot up unattended. Keep in mind that you will need to come in and supply the password in the event of a power failure. ;(
Boot Loader Security
The various Linux boot loaders also can have a boot password set. LILO, for example, has password and restricted settings; password requires password at boot time, whereas restricted requires a boot-time password only if you specify options (such as single) at the LILO prompt.

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