Security Ripcord

Finally, we are going to be able to merge the most popular operating systems onto one machine (well, almost all of them). Although I haven’t looked into it Martin McKeay points out that Apple is now going to support dual booting on their Intel machines. Apple’s Boot Camp will allow a user to install Windows XP onto a live OS X system. You just need your own copy of Windows XP and about 10GB on your hard drive.

LET THE RACES BEGIN!! It is only a matter of time until we see this with the capability to also install Linux. Of course the guys over at CyberSpeak Podcast have recently pointed out (I think it was the March 25th edition) that the Holy Grail is to be able to switch seamlessly between the systems without needing to reboot to the other operating system. Now, I will definitely by stock in the company that comes out with that feature.

This definitely has great implications for the security professional. Although vitual systems are reliable and very handy, vulnerabilites are going to be serious issues in the future. In the same episode (if I remember correctly) the guys at CyberSpeak mentioned that there is malware out there that avoids deploying itself in virtual environments. How long before they leverage this for exploits and viruses on the child and parent systems. Besides, although the software version of VMWare’s Server Beta edition is free (as in registration), not everybody can afford a system that can handle multiple virtual operating system running at the same time in a smooth fashion.

Now I just need to get a Mac. Can somebody talk to my wife about it?
Cutaway

Edit: More detailed information can be found at Hack in the Box.

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