Linux Granting Administrative Rights in Vista?

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re4de2ye0

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Got an e-mail the other day from some one and being unfamiliar with Linux thought I would check into it. Maybe someone here with more knowledge could give me some feedback on it:

"I have just installed a new version of Linux on a partition on my new notebook that has Vista on it.
The newest Linux includes a feature that gives access to the Vista partition automatically.
It grants full administrative access to read and write to all of the Vista partition without user names or passwords.
This Linux can be booted from a flash drive in minutes (or a floppy or CD).
It also has the ability to place files on the Vista system that the Vista system cannot see.

What this means is that a computer with Vista (with one exception) may be compromised without the owner's knowledge. The exception being Vista Ultimate, the top end ($500+) version, that uses encryption to protect files."

Thanks in advance.

-Dom
 
The most important rule of security it physical security. This is nothing new. If some one has physical access to your system it can be compromised, regardless of the OS or software that is ran on it.

Furthermore, Linux is not "granting" administrative rights in Vista, it's bypassing the security measures of Vista altogether.
 
That is what I explained to the worried party that given the opportunity anyone can get anything from your machine if they have access to it. That being said is there any workaround that will give this person a little piece of mind? I really appreciate the feedback. Thanks in advance.
 
Unless the files / disk is encrypted, anyone can just plug a hard drive into a different pc/os and bypass the file permissions.

His linux install is the same way - if he booted with a knoppix livecd or something all his linux files would be accessible.

For windows, He could try truecrypt for full disk encryption or just an encrypted partition for important files. It's free and works very well.

I'm not sure of how you encrypt filesystems in linux.
 
2nd vote for truecrypt, it's great...


don't forget your password though
 
re4de2ye0 said:
Got an e-mail the other day from some one and being unfamiliar with Linux thought I would check into it. Maybe someone here with more knowledge could give me some feedback on it:

"I have just installed a new version of Linux on a partition on my new notebook that has Vista on it.
The newest Linux includes a feature that gives access to the Vista partition automatically.
It grants full administrative access to read and write to all of the Vista partition without user names or passwords.
This Linux can be booted from a flash drive in minutes (or a floppy or CD).
It also has the ability to place files on the Vista system that the Vista system cannot see.

What this means is that a computer with Vista (with one exception) may be compromised without the owner's knowledge. The exception being Vista Ultimate, the top end ($500+) version, that uses encryption to protect files."

Thanks in advance.

-Dom
Click to expand...


This is no different from installing a new copy of Vista on a new partition and having access in the same way. As previously mentioned logical security means nothing when physical security is not assured.
 
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