Tag Archives: BIOS

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Adaptiva Secure 10: BIOS to UEFI

New registration-required freeware from Adaptiva:

Adaptiva’s free Secure 10 is a complete automation solution for ConfigMgr admins to make the BIOS to UEFI conversion process simple and unattended. With Secure 10, migrations take much less time and no IT staff need to be on-site during the process. Now including support for new MBR2GPT.exe tool for retaining data while making the switch, as well as ConfigMgr 1610+ WinPE boot image pre-staging. Also new: two complete task sequences to save time integrating into your deployments! […] The open solution includes detailed documentation to help SCCM system administrators overcome the complexities of automating the conversion from:

* BIOS to UEFI – Secure 10 automates the conversion process from the legacy BIOS firmware typically used in Windows 7/8 systems to the more powerful Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) technology. UEFI is required to enable key enterprise security features available in Windows 10.

* MBR to GPT – Secure 10 now includes support for the MBR2GPT.exe tool, which helps convert the disk layout on a PC from the legacy Master Boot Record (MBR) to GUID Partition Table (GPT). The new tool is the only Microsoft-supported tool to convert a production disk from MBR to GPT without data loss, greatly speeding in-place upgrades to Windows 10.

* WinPE Pre-staging – Microsoft recently introduced the capability to pre-stage a WinPE boot image to a partition from within an SCCM Task Sequence and have that image persist during the conversion from MBR to GPT. Secure 10 supports this capability for refresh/replace scenarios.

https://www.adaptiva.com/blog/2017/adaptiva-releases-bios-uefi-solution-update-speed-windows-10-migrations/

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Toshiba adds security features to firmware

Toshiba has added firmware-level security to their Mobile Zero Client:

[…]How Toshiba Mobile Zero Client works
* Power on: User powers on the device, which connects to pre-configured LAN or Wi-Fi
* Boot permission: Device requests boot permission from Toshiba Boot Control Service*
* Big Core download: When boot permission is granted, your unique, secure, Big Core package is encrypted, downloaded and unpacked in the RAM
* Ready to go: Your Big Core, with Linux and the VDI client, is executed – establishing its connection to your VDI server

[…]Beyond supporting the storage of data securely away from the device, TMZC can provide added protection through Toshiba’s uniquely developed BIOS, which is designed and built in–house to help remove the risk of third-party interference.[…] We’re one of the only manufacturers that creates our own BIOS and UEFI’s.[…]

http://us.toshiba.com/solutions/tmzc

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170613005346/en/Toshiba-Expands-Portfolio-Security-Solutions-Addition-Mobile

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Intel ATR releases UEFI firmware training materials!

Good news: the Intel Advanced Threat Research (ATR) team has release some of their UEFI security training materials!

This repository contains materials for a hands-on training ‘Security of BIOS/UEFI System Firmware from Attacker and Defender Perspectives’. A variety of attacks targeting system firmware have been discussed publicly, drawing attention to the pre-boot and firmware components of the platform such as BIOS and SMM, OS loaders and secure booting. This training will detail and organize objectives, attack vectors, vulnerabilities and exploits against various types of system firmware such as legacy BIOS, SMI handlers and UEFI based firmware, mitigations as well as tools and methods available to analyze security of such firmware components. It will also detail protections available in hardware and in firmware such as Secure Boot implemented by modern operating systems against bootkits. The training includes theoretical material describing a structured approach to system firmware security analysis and mitigations as well as many hands-on exercises to test system firmware for vulnerabilities. After the training you should have basic understanding of platform hardware components and various types of system firmware, security objectives and attacks against system firmware, mitigations available in hardware and firmware. You should be able to apply this knowledge in practice to identify vulnerabilities in BIOS and perform forensic analysis of the firmware.

0 Introduction to Firmware Security
1 BIOS and UEFI Firmware Fundamentals
2 Bootkits and UEFI Secure Boot
3 Hands-On Platform Hardware and Firmware
4 System Firmware Attack Vectors
5 Hands-On EFI Environment
6 Mitigations
7 System Firmware Forensics
N Miscellaneous Materials

https://github.com/advanced-threat-research/firmware-security-training

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ATM machines and firmware security

An article from the ATM industry on BIOS:

ATM malware attacks: Head them off at the BIOS
May 19, 2017 | by Suzanne Cluckey

[…][Our concern] as a control company is making sure that the network vulnerabilities are sealed up … we continue to see attacks on the BIOS. Finding a toolset that allows you to change the password, change the settings and secure the BIOS of those machines is important to a lot of those customers.[…]

 

https://www.atmmarketplace.com/articles/atm-malware-attacks-head-them-off-at-the-bios/

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