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A PBA environment serves as an extension of the BIOS, UEFI or boot firmware and guarantees a secure, tamper-proof environment external to the operating system as a trusted authentication layer. [2] The PBA prevents any operating system from loading until the user has confirmed he/she has the correct password to unlock the computer. [2]
In later computer systems, the BIOS contents are stored on flash memory so it can be rewritten without removing the chip from the motherboard. This allows easy, end-user updates to the BIOS firmware so new features can be added or bugs can be fixed, but it also creates a possibility for the computer to become infected with BIOS rootkits.
In computing, the System Management BIOS (SMBIOS) specification defines data structures (and access methods) that can be used to read management information produced by the BIOS of a computer. [1] This eliminates the need for the operating system to probe hardware directly to discover what devices are present in the computer.
Hardware keyloggers are used for keystroke logging, a method of capturing and recording computer users' keystrokes, including sensitive passwords. [1] They can be implemented via BIOS-level firmware, or alternatively, via a device plugged inline between a computer keyboard and a computer. They log all keyboard activity to their internal memory.
The first bug had complications with a BIOS HDD password. A BIOS HDD password is used to reduce functionality of the computer unless the user inputs the correct password. The problem was that certain X25-M G2 drives that shipped with the bugged (02G2) firmware gave difficulty to any users that used a BIOS HDD password.
A modern PC is configured to attempt to boot from various devices in a certain order. If a computer is not booting from the device desired, such as the floppy drive, the user may have to enter the BIOS Setup function by pressing a special key when the computer is first turned on (such as Delete, F1, F2, F10 or F12), and then changing the boot order. [6]
The original AMI BIOS did not encrypt the machine startup password, which it stored in non-volatile RAM. [18] Therefore, any utility capable of reading a PC's NVRAM was able to read and to alter the password. [17] The AMI WinBIOS encrypts the stored password, using a simple substitution cipher. [19]
Hardware Password Manager to save BIOS, disk, and motherboard passwords in one place [3] IBM developed ThinkVantage Technologies. They were included with the sale of their PC division to Lenovo Group in 2005.