Well that's the problem indeed, knowing if you are clean from firmware viruses in the first place. But i don't suspect i have firmware viruses and i have new pc. It takes a lot of time and money and no one would bother to infect specific user. I am no one. It could be used in attacks on multi peoples, or if already some firmware virus existed someone could use it i guess, i don't really know. Even probability is low. I am just acting responsibly about this. If i can use Qubes, than why not right. So if i use Qubes, using ROM optical disk in external mechanic. So i should be generally safe, (nothing is perfect), even if i got firmware viruses afterwards ? I can't unplug disks and disable all of them in BIOS, i am using NVME and it is blocked by GPU vertical mount and it was insane to plug it in the first place and doing that each time, it is not feasible. So if i boot from live CD, not sure if viruses on hard disks could do anything. And i won't be booting from Windows when live CD is in and it would be ROM and i'll use external CD mechanic.
Also i don't know what i was saying previously, but i can't dedicate old pc for banking at least with Qubes, it doesn't work there. So i would be using it on my main PC. But if i used other Linux on my old pc and dedicated it only for online banking, that should be safe right ? Even if i had it long time, so i could have potentially some firmware viruses, that could impact security in future. Even if i had them and they didn't do anything so far. I don't know. On Tuesday, June 9, 2020 at 12:51:41 PM UTC+2, Mark Fernandes wrote: > > I recently did a personal study that covered at least some of these > issues. Ppl can also contribute to the study which is now public and in the > form of a wiki. > > On Monday, 8 June 2020 19:00:17 UTC+1, tomas.s...@gmail.com wrote: >> >> ... I know firmware viruses are rare, but still better safe than sorry. I >> am looking for safe OS to do online banking from. If i use live usb of >> QUBES, does that protect me against all firmware viruses ? ... >> > > My opinion is that it probably doesn't when you suspect you may already > have firmware viruses. If you know you are clean (including that the USB > memory stick is also clean from firmware malware [because USB memory > sticks can also have firmware malware > <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/End-user_Computer_Security/Main_content/Digital_storage#General_security_risks_in_digital_storage>]), > > then you'll probably be safe if you only use Qubes. > > A live DVD of Qubes is likely more safe than a live USB memory stick of > Qubes—see here > <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/End-user_Computer_Security/Main_content/Digital_storage#Rewritable_media_vs_optical_ROM_discs> > . > > For users not literate with the technical aspects of computing, who want > to do online banking securely and safely, I would advise purchasing a brand > new Chromebook using random physical selection at a physical computer > store > <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/End-user_Computer_Security/Main_content/Broad_security_principles#User_randomly_selecting_unit_from_off_physical_shelves>. > > Chromebooks appear to be quite secure in comparison to many other kinds of > devices generally labelled as computers (I don't include smartphones in > this comparison, and I don't know so much about which smartphone one should > choose for online banking). > > If you are more technically minded, and want to do online banking, it > still might be the case that other "better" solutions are inappropriate for > you, in the sense that they are all "overkill" solutions. Banks often > refund monies stolen through fraud... However, if you are more technically > minded, it probably is a good idea to look through the aforementioned study > (the contents page can be accessed here > <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/End-user_Computer_Security/Preliminaries>). > > Some info on the security of BIOS/UEFI firmware (from the study ) is > documented here > <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/End-user_Computer_Security/Main_content/Software_based#Security_of_BIOS/UEFI_firmware> > . > > >> Also i can't disable all my disks in BIOS, could that be problem ? .... >> So my main OS can't compromise Qubes. ... >> > > Would recommend physical disconnection of unused disks when dual-booting. > As I think mentioned elsewhere in these mailing lists, you can do that by > just taking out the power cable of the respective disks. See here > <https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/End-user_Computer_Security/Main_content/Software_based#Qubes_OS_4.0.3_side-by-side_with_other_operating_systems> > > for more information. > > > >> ... I wanted to dedicate my old pc for online banking, but Qubes doesn't >> work there. >> > > Might be a good idea to do such dedication. It can be good from a security > perspective because of the isolation of the device from other systems you > use. You could consider using the freely-available CloudReady OS > <http://www.neverware.com/freedownload>, which is something like > ChromeOS (used on Chromebooks) for non-Chromebook devices. I've > successfully installed CloudReady on an old Toshiba laptop. > > > Kind regards, > > > Mark Fernandes > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "qubes-users" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to qubes-users+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/qubes-users/7c3036ee-e6d5-4d46-b014-b6e1c115ca65o%40googlegroups.com.
