Question

1, Describe the evolution of system start-up from BIOS to UEFI, noting vulnerabilities discovered and protections added. Define Secure Boot.

2. Explain and give examples of electromagnetic spying.

Book to use: Mark Ciampa, CompTIA Security+ Guide to Network Security Fundamentals, Sixth Edition.(Chapter 9)

PLEASE ANSWER ALL QUESTIONS!!!

Answer 1

1)The BIOS (Basic Input Output System) or UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface ), is a firmware that runs when the computer is booted. It initializes the hardware and loads the operating system into the memory. However, being the more advanced solution and overcoming various constraints of BIOS the UEFI is all set to replace the former.
When BIOS begins it’s execution, it first goes for the Power-On Self Test (POST), which secures that the hardware devices are functioning precisely. After that, it checks for the Master Boot Record in the first sector of the chosen boot device. From the MBR, the location of the Boot-Loader is regained after being loaded by BIOS into the computer’s RAM, places the operating system into the main memory.
Unlike BIOS, UEFI doesn’t attend for the MBR in the first sector of the Boot Device. It prepares a list of valid boot volumes called EFI Service Partitions. While the POST procedure, the UEFI firmware scans all of the bootable storage devices which are connected to the system for a valid GUID Partition Table (GPT) and which is an improvement over MBR. GPT doesn’t contain a Boot-Loader like MBR. To find an EFI Service Partition to boot, the firmware itself scans the GPT and directly loads the OS from the right partition. If it fails to find then it goes back to the BIOS-type Booting process which is known as Legacy Boot.

Secure boot is one feature of the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) and a security standard to make sure that a device boots using only software that is trusted by the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). When the PC starts, the firmware verifies the signature of each piece of boot software, including UEFI firmware drivers (also known as Option ROMs), EFI applications, and the operating system. If the signatures are authentic then the PC boots and the firmware produces control to the operating system.

2)Electromagnetic spying is nothing but the side-channel attacks which are performed by measuring the electromagnetic radiation emitted from a device and performing signal analysis on it. For example, radio waves are emitted by electricity moving along a radio transmitter then in the case of electromagnetic side-channel attacks, the attackers are often looking at electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by computing devices and which are made up of circuits.