[sf-lug] Laptop computer(s) and its/their so-called 'root' password(s)

[aaronco36]

Bobbie Sellers <bliss-sf4ever at dslextreme.com> wrote at [1]:

> Is the root password set?
> If it is do you have it available to buyers?

Is it possible that Bobbie S really meant _BIOS_ password(s) set instead 
of _root_ password?

Main reason for asking is that its absolutely not uncommon that companies 
and individuals will lockdown their laptops in order that other 
individuals won't just come along and boot from some unknown USB stick or 
optical media to install another OS or to hack/change settings in the 
current OS (live booting).

As written in step 3 of VOX's 'End User laptop: Lock it Down in 11 
Steps'[2]:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ quoting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Install a BIOS password and change device boot order to prevent the system 
booting from anything but the hard drive. This makes it harder for someone 
to boot from a CD that contains hacking tools designed to get at your 
data. If you do ever need to boot from a CD simply temporarily change the 
boot order and then change it back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And security-minded public and learning institutions will more often than 
not lockdown their publicly-accessible computers (student-accessible lab 
computers) using similar "kiosk"-style BIOS restrictions -- e.g., steps in 
"The lockdown" section of 'Creating a kiosk with Linux and X11: 2011 
edition'[3] intended more for Linux sysadmins.

-A


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References
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[1]http://linuxmafia.com/pipermail/sf-lug/2019q3/014382.html
[2]https://vox.veritas.com/t5/Articles/End-User-Laptop-Lock-it-Down-in-11-Steps/ta-p/808614
[3]https://alandmoore.com/blog/2011/11/05/creating-a-kiosk-with-linux-and-x11-2011-edition/ 
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aaronco36 at sdf.org
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