Just wanted to say that this forum is the best resource for computer main/info that I have run across on the net. I have been helped with a couple of small problems by you folks already; but probably the most important aspect is what I have learned by simply reading the various posts and the responses to same. I am a bit of a tweaker and have made quite a number of small adjustments to the OS based on the recommendations / suggestions. I really don't know how the moderators find the time to responded(and sometimes the patience ). - Webster 
Researchers: Rootkits headed for BIOS
Posted by: Tweaker
Date added: 23:19, 27th January 2006 GMT
Source: Security Focus
ARLINGTON, Virginia -- Insider attacks and industrial espionage could become more stealthy by hiding malicious code in the core system functions available in a motherboard's flash memory, researchers said on Wednesday at the Black Hat Federal conference.
A collection of functions for power management, known as the Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), has its own high-level interpreted language that could be used to code a rootkit and store key attack functions in the Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) in flash memory, according to John Heasman, principal security consultant for U.K.-based Next-Generation Security Software.
The researcher tested basic features, such as elevating privileges and reading physical memory, using malicious procedures that replaced legitimate functions stored in flash memory. "Rootkits are becoming more of a threat in general--BIOS is just the next step," Heasman said during a presentation at the conference. "While this is not a threat now, it is a warning to people to look out."
The worries come as security professionals are increasingly worried about rootkits. Earlier this month, a security researcher warned that the digital-rights management software, which experts say resembled a rootkit, used by music giant Sony BMG remained on hundreds of thousands of servers. Last year, the first rootkit for the Mac OS X was released to the Internet.
While some attacks have attempted to affect a computer's flash memory, most notably the CIH or Chernobyl virus in 1998, the ability to use the high-level programming language available for creating ACPI functions has opened up the attack to far more programmers. One rootkit expert at the conference predicted that the technology will become a fundamental part of rootkits in the near future.
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