On Friday, December 6, 2019 5:14:24 PM MST Kevin Kofler wrote:
Marius Schwarz wrote:
> "Figure out intersection with current work to use the TPM to allow
> booting to GDM without entering the password."
>
> Means, if someone steals the device, he can boot a system.
And conversely, if you move the hard disk to another computer, you can no
longer read it. And if your motherboard breaks down, instant data loss.
In addition, I do not trust the TPM or any other Treacherous Computing
component.
If you want to rely on a hardware key, it should at least be on a removable
USB token (a keyfile on a plain mass-storage USB stick is enough!), not
hard-wired into the computer like the TPM.
Agreed. What many people don't realize is that a TPM isn't some special
security device. It's essentially a specialized storage device, that only
stores keys, with a few extensions to use those keys. On many vendors, the TPM
includes a key that CANNOT BE REMOVED, which belongs to Microsoft or an OEM.
--
John M. Harris, Jr.
Splentity