[LinuxBIOS] PC protection

popkonserve popkonserve at gmx.de
Mon Aug 6 17:52:24 CEST 2007


what if no network card is installed? what if an installed network card 
is removed? what if another network card (with another chip) is installed?
what if the pc isn't connected to any network? (okay, you ruled that 
out..) what if you have the ip? how do you get the person/place that ip 
belongs to? ask the isp? do you think that they would give away their 
customers' name/address? what if the network doesn't belong to the 
thief(university, internet cafe, hacked/open wlan)? what if the device 
was already sold to someone else? even if they would be forced by law to 
give out the address..what would you do then? go there by yourself and 
kindly ask them to give the hardware back? ask for a house search (that 
the police would have to do)? i doubt that some network card pinging 
something is a proof for anything.

there are special programs and firms that include data destroying 
software into the os and bios. if a stolen device is connected to the 
internet (and the software is still installed and the ports it uses are 
not blocked (that's what those firms don't like to talk about)) it 
connects to a server. now the destruction routine could jump in..an ip 
detection routine, too. but still they won't have a name or a place.

technically however it is possible as long as the nic remains in place 
and there is a connection to what's called the internet.
Holger





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