What is the "Palladium" initiative, anyway?

Totally Secure Machines?

The "Palladium" code name refers to both hardware and software changes. Specifically, it refers to a new set of features in the Microsoft® Windows® operating system that, when combined with new hardware and software, provide additional security services to PCs. There are four categories of these features:

Curtained memory. The ability to wall off and hide pages of main memory so that each "Palladium" application can be assured that it is not modified or observed by any other application or even the operating system
Attestation. The ability for a piece of code to digitally sign or otherwise attest to a piece of data and further assure the signature recipient that the data was constructed by an unforgeable, cryptographically identified software stack
Sealed storage. The ability to securely store information so that a "Palladium" application or module can mandate that the information be accessible only to itself or to a set of other trusted components that can be identified in a cryptographically secure manner
Secure input and output. A secure path from the keyboard and mouse to "Palladium" applications, and a secure path from "Palladium" applications to a region of the screen


For Full Article...

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/tre...s/PallFAQ2.asp

IMO, it just means more crashes, more bugs, and more headaches. The palladium looks like a good idea on paper. But, every software manufacturer will have the "signitures" to break thru the palladium cryptography. All it takes is one leak, and bingo, Palladium is just another chip. Not to mention proprietary hardware and software in the future. Its just another money making scheme that MS and Intel will force upon computer users. And in the end, like all "secure" devices (*cough* satelite TV *cough*) it will be surpassed.

The thing that gets me the most is that it is just another way of taking control of the computer away from the user. Not happy with having 100 000 wizards on their OS, Microsoft also want to control exactly what programs you can use, and how they run. I have seen an article, suggesting that it may be used in such a way, that if you write a word document and then your software licence runs out, the document will be unreadable to anyone. Guess there is noly one way to find out exactly how they are going to use it, just wait......

It is a good thing to finally see Microsoft taking security seriously. They have made so many promises in the past and failed to deliver. Now, finally, we can put our whole hearted faith in the masters from Redmond again. They will lead the way to a bright new future in comptuer security where we will be able to say, "you cannot pass into my system without my (and Microsoft's) approval". We are on the verge of something great my friends. A new day in security is dawning and Palladium is it.

/me Wakes up screaming from the nightmare and realizes it was just a dream and another empty promise. Whew. :p

I don't trust MS to develop anything security related without including some 'feature' that will end up screwing me in the end. If this was a proposed industry standard that would be open to examination by the public and if the technology was available to other companies for inclusion in their OS, I might change my mind.

Quote :Curtained memory. The ability to wall off and hide pages of main memory so that each "Palladium" application can be assured that it is not modified or observed by any other application or even the operating system

God, that scares me..../me sees many many viruses, trojans, and keyloggers being truly invisible....argh!!!! /me bangs head against the wall....

I'm sorry but I do not need a chip to secure my system. This thing is nothing more then a hard wired push so you cannot use your computer as you want but use it how "THEY" M$ says. As it is right now I can yep buy a CD of music and burn a copy (like I want to keep a few grand of original CD's in my or my wife's car). Temp range alone will warp plastic faster then you can wink! This is fair use stuff, and what about the original DVD movies I buy? One half of the new ones freeze up 1/2 way into the movie, is it some sort of copy protection or a crappy original? The day M$ provieds a secure product and not make money on it will be when you know where freezes over. Hardware locks are a bad idea and will spawn mod chips that cost yet more money. Another marketing idea flop as I see it.

The problem with this is that it will not be that long before the cryptography hard wired into the chip is broken. A good example is the MS Xbox games console which has reasonable levels of protection.

However, the cryptography used has been broken, and you can modify an Xbox to be used as a normal type of PC (after all it is a PC with some odd components). This also allows you to bypass the copy protection on the CDs used by the Xbox.

So I can't really see this working. I suppose it is harder to deal with hardware encryption, as you may need to replace some chip(s) in your PC to break it. However, once a weakness is found, that is it, as you cannot re-program the chip itself :)

I think, as I've said before, XP will be my last M$ OS. So far, taking advice from here and other security sites, I've rid my computer of Real Media, disabled automatic update and the messenger, and deleted msn messenger. With a good AV and firewall, until something else xp related pops up, I think I've rid myself of most of Bill's better ideas.

My next box will be from Apple. So far, I haven't heard anything about Jobs wanting to control my online computing experience. I don't have the whole story on Palladium yet, but I haven't read a single good thing about it. What's this about "when the license runs out?"

Are there plans to, after you buy it, to have to relicense annually? Isn't paying their inflated prices enough?

Palladium will bomb, except for the zombies who will buy anthing with a Microsoft name on it.

I thought the whole thing was a scam anyway. Thanx for your input guys/gals.

Honestly:: I tend to use linux/bsd for my IT solutions!