Microsoft is studying the reported Windows Vista BIOS product activation hack that could allow illegal copies of Vista to be widely installed, though the company has no immediate plans to take action.

According to Alex Kochis, a Microsoft senior product manager, the company is taking a wait-and-see approach on this latest challenge: “Our goal isn’t to stop every ‘mad scientist’ that’s on a mission to hack Windows. Our goal is to disrupt the business model of organized counterfeiters and protect users from becoming unknown victims. This means focusing on responding to hacks that are scalable and can easily be commercialized.”

Reports about the crack started circulation online a few weeks ago. Two methods have so-far been identified to crack Windows Vista’s OEM Activation (OA) 2.0.

The first involves editing the BIOS on the motherboard to make it appear as if it’s from an authorized OEM. This method is quite risky and a pretty labor-intensive process. If you mess up editing the BIOS of any motherboard, you can quite easily render it permanently useless, which makes this hack less of a threat.

The second uses software to convince Windows Vista it’s running on OA 2.0-enabled hardware. And while this method is easier to implement for the end user, it’s also easier to detect and respond to, Microsoft said.

“Because Windows Vista can’t be pirated as easily as Windows XP, it’s possible that the increased pressure will result in more interest in efforts to hack the OEM Activation 2.0 implementation,” Kochis said.

Microsoft last saw its product activation system hacked when it introduced Windows XP in 2001, but those hacks were limited in their scope.

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Related:

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Entry was posted on Wednesday, April 11th, 2007 at 2:22 pm under Security, Vista.  Print This Post

Read more entries by Ruben Francia.