> Scott Marlowe wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 13 Oct 1999, James R Bruce wrote:
> >
> > > Though perhaps it should be an option just because someone *might* want
> > > to use it...
> > >
> > > Intel claimed at some point that it was for identification for eCommerce
> > > and similar applications, which is a pretty stupid reason since any
> > > layer between the CPU and the network card could easily fake another
> > > serial number. Crippleware seems to be the only reasonable use in
> > > commercial apps.
> >
> > There is one more use, in proving you own a computer if it is stolen. A
> > simple program on a bootable floppy could be used to determine the serial
> > number of any computer's CPU. If you already have your PIII numbers
> > registered somewhere, that's pretty compelling proof that this was once your
> > CPU.
>
> Was not the melissa "virus" author caught out by the use of the PIN with a MS
> operating system encoding the serial number to the document. then simply using
> the reporting of a mac ip address (also encoded to the doc) to find him?
That hardly applies to what I'm saying here. The melissa virus author was
caught because MS Office products encode a signature in each document
which can be tracked back to that author. This sytem of signing was neither
requested by the users, nor were they aware of it.
I'll repeat, I only want the kernel to find the serial number, dump it to
screen if I so compile my kernel, and log it if i want. All at MY option.
if I have a room with 50 PIII machines, and they all get stolen, and I run
across a machine or ten I think were once mine, I would like to be able to
prove that those machines are mine. Let's face it, Dell Dimensions all look
the same, and the external serial numbers can get changed. The CPU serial
number can't.
I am NOT NOT NOT advocating making the number grepping and recording a
default action. It should have to be selected as a kernel compile time
option.
Scott Marlowe
-
To unsubscribe from this list: send the line "unsubscribe linux-kernel" in
the body of a message to majordomo@vger.rutgers.edu
Please read the FAQ at http://www.tux.org/lkml/