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"Nov 30, 2015 By Greig Paul in HOW-TOs Security UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is the open, multi-vendor replacement for the aging BIOS standard, which first appeared in IBM computers in 1976. The UEFI standard is extensive, covering the full boot architecture. This article focuses on a single useful but typically overlooked feature of UEFI: secure boot. "

"Nov 30, 2015 By Greig Paul in HOW-TOs Security UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface) is the open, multi-vendor replacement for the aging BIOS standard, which first appeared in IBM computers in 1976. The UEFI standard is extensive, covering the full boot architecture. This article focuses on a single useful but typically overlooked feature of UEFI: secure boot. "

"This BIOS replacement, UEFI, caused some serious problems with "alternative" platforms. For some time, it was thought UEFI would render Linux uninstallable on any system certified for Windows 8 and up. Eventually Microsoft saw fit to require vendors to include a switch that allowed users to disable UEFI, so that their favorite Linux distribution could be installed. And then some Linux distributions set out to fully support Secure Boot (Red Hat, Ubuntu, SUSE, to name a few). "

"This BIOS replacement, UEFI, caused some serious problems with "alternative" platforms. For some time, it was thought UEFI would render Linux uninstallable on any system certified for Windows 8 and up. Eventually Microsoft saw fit to require vendors to include a switch that allowed users to disable UEFI, so that their favorite Linux distribution could be installed. And then some Linux distributions set out to fully support Secure Boot (Red Hat, Ubuntu, SUSE, to name a few). "

"Data Wiping Software DBAN is free erasure software designed for the personal user. It automatically deletes the contents of any hard disk that it can detect. This method prevents identity theft before recycling a computer. DBAN is also a commonly used solution to remove viruses and spyware from Microsoft Windows installations. DBAN users should be aware of some product limitations, including: No guarantee of data removal (e.g. DBAN does not detect or securely erase SSDs) No audit-ready reporting for regulatory compliance Limited hardware support (e.g. no RAID dismantling) No customer support or regular software updates"