security loophole question

  • Thread starter Thread starter moi
  • Start date Start date
M

moi

hi,

im running windows xp, and am pretty gutted about the security problems in
it, so if anyone could help me resolve them i would appreciate it. firstly,
my brother seems to somehow be able to reset my BIOS password on boot, at
will. i know this isnt strictly to do with XP, but if anyone could a) tell
me how he does this, and b) tell me how to stop it, id very much appreciate
it.

my major concern is that despite me having my guest accont turned off, and
there being only my account (the pass word to which he definitely doesnt
know) he seems to find some way of turning on the administrator account and
thereby accessing all my files. he says something about being able to do
this by booting in safe mode or something like that.

clearly this is a complete pain in the ass.....im sure any of you who are,
or remember being 19, will understand the potential problems of having your
brother being able to go through your hard drive at will.

so any help will be greatfully recieved.

cheers,

CP.
 
hi,

im running windows xp, and am pretty gutted about the security problems in
it, so if anyone could help me resolve them i would appreciate it. firstly,
my brother seems to somehow be able to reset my BIOS password on boot, at
will. i know this isnt strictly to do with XP, but if anyone could a) tell
me how he does this, and b) tell me how to stop it, id very much appreciate
it.
Click to expand...
If you have a BIOS password that stops the user from booting and/or
from entering the password to reset it, the only way I know of to
get around this is to open the box and reset the cmos using the
jumper. But this is unlikely, because then you would have to set
up all the bios settings again...
perhaps he is just getting into the bios and disabling the password.
my major concern is that despite me having my guest accont turned off, and
there being only my account (the pass word to which he definitely doesnt
know) he seems to find some way of turning on the administrator account and
thereby accessing all my files. he says something about being able to do
this by booting in safe mode or something like that.
Click to expand...
Most ADMIN accounts are *not* password protected. By booting safe
mode, you have access to the admin account directly. Try going into
control panel/admin/computer management/local users and groups/users
and either disabling the administrator or set a password for it
(this is probably better)
 
davetest said:
If you have a BIOS password that stops the user from booting and/or
from entering the password to reset it, the only way I know of to
get around this is to open the box and reset the cmos using the
jumper. But this is unlikely, because then you would have to set
up all the bios settings again...
perhaps he is just getting into the bios and disabling the password.
Most ADMIN accounts are *not* password protected. By booting safe
mode, you have access to the admin account directly. Try going into
control panel/admin/computer management/local users and groups/users
and either disabling the administrator or set a password for it
(this is probably better)
Click to expand...

thanks for that dave,

i dont know how to stop the scum bag getting into the bios, but ive set a
password on the 'administrator' account, so hopefully that should stop him
finding my......errrm....'sensitive' files.

many thanks,

CP
 
Have you tried setting both the bios password and the boot password. Most
motherboards allow two passwords. One to protect bios settings and the
other to protect the computer from booting. If you don't protect the bios
settings its easy to go into bios and disable the boot password. Also look
for a little lock tab on your case most come with one. That way you can
padlock the case shut so he can't use the jumper technique or remove the
battery to get the passwords to reset. Also even with admin password
changed if he can boot into safe mode or boot the computer guess what he
will have your password or the computer. To many utilities to crack
passwords or reset them by a floppy or boot cd. Of the two computers in my
office only one has the lock tab to put a lock and keep the case from being
opened. Also if he's already installed a keylogger which is what I would
do. He could already have your password and logon at will. Especially if
it is a keylogger that emails periodically to his account.
 
i dont know how to stop the scum bag getting into the bios, but ive set a
password on the 'administrator' account, so hopefully that should stop him
finding my......errrm....'sensitive' files.

many thanks,

CP
Click to expand...
everybody's entitled to their "sensitive files" !
Cheers,
Dave
 
hmmm, thats worrying. lol

in fairness, i doubt he had the time, or the sharpness of thought to
consider a keylogger (which is what i would have done too) but just in case,
are there any tell tale signs of one, or a way to spot/remove them?
 
Not really there are to many legit key loggers that are not detected by
virus scanners and the like. Ad-Aware by lavasoft.de does a good job at
spotting many key loggers. Also Trendmicro's free scan does a good job at
spotting trojans and keyloggers. I normally tell people if you think you've
been hacked and have trojans or keyloggers, reformat, and secure.
 
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