In a way, I have to agree -- this kind of problem is common,
and has been around longer than the PC. However, we've all
known that things like password-protecting the BIOS are
almost worthless, since opening the case and fiddling the
jumpers is usually quite easy. One can't defeat password
protection on a Sun without replacing a chip on the main
board. Now *that* is a reasonable level of security.

Maybe we've been too lax about this in the past, and should
have insisted that hardware manufacturers build in some
countermeasures. There are a lot of things they could do
which would be a TON more useful than the "trusted
computing" junk Intel's got in the works, and they need
not be elaborate or expensive to implement. Maybe the
press are just seeing the issue with fresh eyes, and we're
the ones with the wrong attitude.

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Link to this comment: http://www.securityfocus.com/comments/columns/144/18317#18317