Re: For Laptops

From: nemo_outis (abc_at_xyz.com)
Date: 08/28/05 

Date: 28 Aug 2005 19:43:13 GMT

Imhotep <Imhotep@nospam.com> wrote in
news:ZBnQe.64815$Yx1.22086@tornado.tampabay.rr.com:

> nemo_outis wrote:
...snip...
>>> LOL. a wipe is writing zeros to the drive.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
>> No, not LOL. Learn before you scoff.
>>
>> There are a number of schemes that use the HPA area of the disk
>> (essentially the HD underreports its physical size, effectively at
>> the hardware level, and uses the extra space for various purposes).
>> Data written to the HPA will survive most wiping and formatting
>> efforts - it is even possible to use a two-level password scheme to
>> protect this area.
>
> It was my understanding that this area was to be used when the hard
> disk gets errors. In other words, this area was to provide "extra"
> space (sectors) should some sectors go bad.

The uses, if any, of the HPA are completely undefined. Until recently
hardly anyone knew about HPA and even fewer did anything with it.
(Personally I've long used it as a secret hidey-hole to stash stuff away
from the prying eyes of sysadmins :-)

Now some programs are coming out that use it. To the extent that they
become popular and the existence of the HPA becomes better known, then
all kinds of malware will appear which uses it (and its value to me as a
hidey-hole will evaporate as did ADS before it.)

  
>> Phoenix (the BIOS folks) are pushing their HPA scheme these days (for
>> data recovery, not anti-theft) but there are many other schemes
>> afoot.
>>
>> Regards,
>
> Your product is not a bad idea, but two things I would request:
> 1) Your web site is IE dependant, if you want me to take you
> seriously, you really should change that....
>
> 2) Since you have a security product, you should think about other
> OSes too...There are a lot of UNIX/linux/BSD/Mac people here...
>
> Im

Just for your info, I've got *nothing* to do with *any* of these
commercial schemes - I'm just a commentator because of my interest in
privacy and security arcana.

Regards,