>On Tue, Apr 27, 1999 at 01:08:44PM -0400, Jan >Muszynski wrote: >> So even if you do have a data backup your BIOS is >probably fried. >> >> For more information see: >> http://www.datafellows.com/v-descs/cih.htm > >It was only a matter of time before a virus came along >which could >flash >your BIOS. I'll tell you what scares me even more >though -- Western >Digital >have published firmware updates for IDE drives on >occasion, which leads >me to assume they have flash BIOS in there too. My >video card >(Diamond Viper V330+) is software upgradable too. Most >Rockwell modems >are software upgradable too. (AT** then Xmodem >upload.)
>Lots of motherboards have socketed ROM chips, so you >can fix them with >a ROM programmer. Not so on video cards and hard >disks. Most motherboards (at least the ones I have seen) won't let you run the software to re-program the flash unless you first throw a hardware switch, or move a jumper block to enable the HW write on the bios chip. Compaq uses a password protection scheme. I would hope that both methods are enough to keep a virus from frying anything. I have a serial modem that can be upgraded. I think that the protocol it uses for that is propriety to the maker so a virus couldn't get in (unless someone who worked for them wrote the virus). === Amateur Radio, when all else fails! http://www.qsl.net/wa2mze Debian Gnu Linux, Live Free or ..... _________________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com
