SJS wrote: > begin quoting [EMAIL PROTECTED] as of Thu, Sep 04, 2008 at 11:08:16AM -0700: >> Somehow my kids or someone caused our Thinkpad laptop to now ask for a >> password on a weird black screen everytime we reboot it. > > You'll be getting a ransom note within the week. > >> Without this password we can't get into the BIOS or do anything. > > Yup. > >> The guy at the shop said there is nothing we can do about it. I'm >> wondering if lettting the battery run out will erase it. >> >> Anyone ever seen this? > > Yup. > > If it's done right, you're toast. > > Or spend your evenings guessing passwords. >
I thought that the most common "ransom plan" was to encrypt the filesystem (or something like that), and leave a message that can't be missed? Is there another attack that sets a bios password? Hmmm, if there's anything valuable on the laptop that hadn't been backed up,it might be prudent to remove the disk and make a bitcopy for safety. Or, maybe it _was_ simply that kids or someone inadvertently set the bios password? Regards, ..jim -- KPLUG-List@kernel-panic.org http://www.kernel-panic.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/kplug-list
