From: frantz@netcom.com (Bill Frantz)
Date: Fri, 15 Nov 1996 15:14:37 -0800 (PST)
To: Adam Gulkis <cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: ideal secure personal computer system
Message-ID: <199611152314.PAA06897@netcom6.netcom.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


At  3:10 PM 11/15/96 -0500, Adam Gulkis wrote:
>a locked startup disk is not a good idea, if it is even possible.

A system file and boot blocks you know can't be written to is a wonderful
aid to a comfortable sleep.  For a number of things, I would like to boot
off CDROM.  (E.g. the program which checks the cryptographic hash of all
the executables on my hard drive and delivers me a report.)


>Most applications setup scratch space on the startup volume.

It would be better if they set up scratch space on the writable volume with
the most available space.  VM/CMS provided a system call to to this in the
late 1960s/early 1970s.  "Modern" systems should provide a similar service.


>It would
>be a better idea to setup a partition for applications and lock it, if
>you feel that is necessary.  Norton DiskLock is a nice tool that
>provides a startup password protection as well as screensaver
>password.  It will request a password if the machine sleeps or to
>reboot after a crash.

Protection against strangers walking up to your machine and using it is
nice, and easy to do.  Protection against viruses which install Trojan
horses in your system would also be nice, but is very hard to do in systems
where programs run with all the privileges of their users.  Examples
include (in alpha order): DOS, MacOS, Unix, and Windows (including NT).


-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bill Frantz       | The lottery is a tax on    | Periwinkle -- Consulting
(408)356-8506     | those who can't do math.   | 16345 Englewood Ave.
frantz@netcom.com |       - Who 1st said this? | Los Gatos, CA 95032, USA