<div>Please bear in mind that the last e-mail of mine is a kind of a diary that runs from the *beginning* 0f this war, to near the end, up almost to this year.</div> <div> </div> <div>Albion Ioannis Vranos <ivranos@freemail.gr> wrote:</div> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">Bar Meshiaka wrote: > Friends, > > I was asked not to use the HTML format in writing posts here, but I > do not know how to change our computer settings, so please forgive me > for writing this post in the way it is written. > > A few days ago, we bought a copy of Ubuntu 7.04 and a copy of Hardy > Heron 8.10 OS off of the internet. > > We have a 2-1/2-year-old HP Media Center PC and as it turns out, it's > got a rootkit in the BIOS of the computer. > > I first put Ubuntu 7.04 OS on it thinking that it might ignore the > rootkit in the BIOS, as it was written for a Windows computer (by the > hacker who wrote it). > > Ubuntu 7.04 got through about 95% of the loading process, but in the > last 5%, it would not load the security items that are in the OS. I > thought this very strange. > > A couple of days later, I then tried installing Hardy Heron 8.10 OS and > immediately it told me that there was a bug in the BIOS. There was some > more information that was on the screen, but it went too fast for me to > write it down. > > I have been in a war with a pretty sophisticated hacker for 5 years. He > has killed off 8 computers so far, this HP included. All of them were > PCs, except for one MacIntosh. > > It took him 9 months to understand the MacIntosh system well enough to > hack it. I had Tiger 10.4 OS on an I-Mac G5. > > Now here is the dilemma. We could buy a new motherboard and a new hard > drive and install it on our HP. I'm thinking that the cost of doing > this and having it installed might be somewhere in the $500 range, > perhaps more. > > Now on the other hand, I'm seriously considering purchasing a computer > made especially for Ubuntu OS from System 76 in Denver, CO. > > I guess my questions would be why patch up an older PC that was not made > for Ubuntu OS in the beginning (but was made for using Windows) when I > could purchase a computer that comes with Ubuntu OS already installed? > > I'm thinking that if he got through MacIntosh once, even if it took 9 > months, that he could get through it again. That seems to rule out > spending a lot of money to buy another Mac. > > I understand that Ubuntu OS is not a "silver bullet" of protection, but > I've been trying to read all that I can about hardening Linux computers > and Ubuntu OS, in particular. > > Is there some way to keep the BIOS from being hacked again? I hear that > putting a password on your BIOS is not a very efficient way to protect > it. Is there another way to harden and protect the BIOS of which I > might not be aware? > > I have chosen to work with Ubuntu OS because I think it's probably the > most secure OS that's out there, even more secure than a MacIntosh. > > Mac fans brag constantly that MacIntosh cannot be hacked, but I have > stone cold proof that this is simply not true. > > I'm also wondering has anybody on this list ever purchased a computer > from System 76 or Zareason (Berkely, CA)? If you have, I would like to > hear your experiences about working with either company, and especially > their customer support. > > I'm a "newbie" at working with Ubuntu and, in fact, just saw how it > looks a few days ago, but if it's a more secure OS, which it seems to > be, then I'm sure willing to give it a shot. > > On the other hand, we could repair our old HP with a new motherboard and > hard drive, but I wonder why do this when we could replace it with a > brand new clean and secure computer. > > Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I hope that I didn't > ask any stupid questions, and I appreciate all your answers. > > Sincerely, > Albion Why is a cracker like this after your PCs? -- ubuntu-users mailing list ubuntu-users@lists.ubuntu.com Modify settings or unsubscribe at: https://lists.ubuntu.com/mailman/listinfo/ubuntu-users </BLOCKQUOTE> <hr size=1>Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/evt=51733/*http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ "> Try it now.</a>