Bruce McCulley wrote:
>
> Funny you should mention it...
>
> Anyone know how can I read the PIII CPU id from within Linux?
>
> I'm at this very moment working on porting a security application to Linux. I
> need to be able to access as much information as possible to identify the
> environment, and the CPU id would be a great advantage to be able to tell the
> bad guys from the good guys.
>
> It's a two-edged sword, Derek. How do *YOU* know who your friends are? How
> do you know that letter or email came from the purported source? (Or even
> that voice phone-mail, given slick enough technology)? For that matter, how
> does NASDAQ or the DoD or Ma Bell know what machine is sending that system
> admin command to some critical firewall or router? Anonymity is a two-edged
> sword too, you can't tell friend from foe with perfect anonymity. Be careful
> what you wish for....
>
> --Bruce McCulley
>
Where will your application lie? Are you using it across the
internet? One thing to remember about Linux - the user has the source
code. Unless you mod the kernel, he can recompile with the kernel
reporting whatever he wants to your code. So, depending on the PIII
is only useful if:
1. They have a PIII installed (eliminates most Intel, all non-intel
machines)
2. You control the environment (you're doing the install, and you
have physical control of the machines)
3. You know and trust the person whose machine you're installing the
code on (and, if you trust them, why do you need to know the machine
it sits on).
4. They never change motherboard / processor. Ever.
Best bet is to write some encrypted code to disk the first time you
start up, then
read that value from then on, and trust people not to change it. Let
them know what you're doing and why. Check out the authentication
code being put in the cvs in Kimberlite (I know there are other
examples of authentication code, that's just the only one I can think
of right now). Go to oss.mclinux.com.
--
jeff smith
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
thought for the day: As failures go, attempting to recall the past is
like trying to grasp the meaning of existence. Both make one feel
like a baby clutching at
a basketball: one's palms keep sliding off.
-- Joseph Brodsky
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