Ahhh, I bet you thought your Windows computer was safe from those meddling fingers by locking the desktop when you run to the water cooler, bathroom, or snack machine.
Think again!!
This article shows that doing just that is no longer a deterrent.
A security researcher has released an easy-to-use tool that accesses locked Windows computers in seconds without entering a password.
The tool, which was released Tuesday by Adam Boileau, works by connecting a Linux machine to the Firewire port of the target PC and modifying the password protection that's stored in local memory.
Well that's just the sort of news I needed to hear today......
Of course, the attack depends on having physical access to the targeted machine, and as most El Reg readers know, anyone who has physical control of the PC owns it. Then again, password protections have been a useful way to briefly secure a machine while a user runs to the bathroom. Until now. As Boileau's tool makes clear, such protections can be bypassed in a matter of seconds.
And that's supposed to reassure me??? Luckily though, all the computers in the Battle Staff War Room have the additional security layer which cannot be discussed in public. We could tell you, but then we'd have to send out those black, unmarked helicopters to "take care of things".
Guess the Tech Department is going to be busy for the next couple of weeks making sure the Firewire ports get locked out.
DismissedTM.
