Very Old PC - Google Chrome refuses to install - Suggestions please?

[trebormoinet]

really? boot recovery mode. ls the usr directory to get username then one command to change password

That is not a bug that is a feature and there is many ways to protect against this if paranoid such as a BIOS password.

[trebormoinet]

I will never think of 0800 number in the same way ever again.

 

What the heck has 0800 number got to do with it unless your fixated in the belief free can only be used to refer to monetary matters.

 

This idea of free as in liberty for code had long been around before Linux hit the scene, and he knew exactly what it meant when he said free as did those his post was intended for.

 

You are clearly not one of the intended audiences,

[labrat]

That is not a bug that is a feature and there is many ways to protect against this if paranoid such as a BIOS password.

 

power on password - bios password wont do diddly

[trebormoinet]

power on password - bios password wont do diddly

 

Sorry I do not understand why you think a BIOS password that prevents you from booting up has no effect ? not the best option granted but its a start.

 

I thought we had already agreed that is game over if someone has physical access, you need to have physical access to the machine to do this. If someone has physical access to your PC, they could do far worse than change a password.

 

When it comes to physical access, the battle for security is lost on any system UNLESS you use strong disk encryption.

 

If you think this is a security flaw then your sorely mistaken, as I have said already its a feature.

[labrat]

power on password prevents the system booting until the password is entered

bios password prevents bios settings being changed and thats it boot is still allowed

 

agreed to the point any physical access = game over

 

if power on password id use the cmos clear jumpers inside the case

if bios password then simply power down the system, disconnect the hdd to change boot order - boot your fav linux brand "sudo apt-get install cmospwd" then "sudo cmospwd -k"

 

or personally i tend to have a bootable version of either Kali or Deft hanging around either one of those can get through most securities + the windows tools on deft like the browser password retrieval software is fun.

 

although on the other hand you can shodan the access to alot of things anyway as people still use the default passwords alot

[trebormoinet]

power on password prevents the system booting until the password is entered

bios password prevents bios settings being changed and thats it boot is still allowed

 

That is simply not true, power on password is simply a feature of the BIOS on some motherboards BUT not all, I stated setting a BIOS password which prevents the PC from booting up if that means power on password feature so be it, but I am not about to go through every permutation to make a simple point and a BIOS password is more commonly referred to prevent the PC from booting up.

 

If we change the scenario somewhat and this hypothetical box has been sensibly locked down then all those methods you described would not work.

 

The original point you made to show Linux was insecure was wrong, I wished to set the record straight, that is all, it is a feature NOT a flaw.

 

Yes computer security is an interesting subject, Many years ago I spent a lot of time building a lab to understand penetration techniques and the tools used for both local and remote exploits, I remember the days before Windows had the firewall turned on by default and home routers were uncommon, just connecting to the internet the PC would be immediately compromised with exploitable ports open to the world, which is the wrong way to do security, Linux on the other hand always came shipped with all ports closed, security done right !!!!!!

 

Now most of us sit comfortably and safely behind our LINUX powered router.

 

Suffice to say my interest lay in defence rather than attack but one has to know thy enemy as they as say.