[Gllug] emulating a pendrive

[Nix]

On 13 Oct 2009, Peter Corlett stated:
> Firewire is peer-to-peer, and allows anything to plug into anything  
> else, software willing.

It also (like USB) allows anything to DMA to anything else, even if the
OS is *not* willing.

So, yes, customized USB keys can be an unblockable security hole. It's
so easy with firewire that debugging a machine after the OS has died
over a firewire connection has direct support in kgdb.

> USB has separate host and device, operated in a master-slave  
> relationship. Hosts cannot directly talk to hosts, and devices cannot  
> talk to devices.

But devices can DMA over your hosts' memory :)

> This is also why both ends of a Firewire cable are identical, whereas  
> USB has distinct ends.

After the Big Upgrade earlier this year, all my non-embedded machines
now have firewire ports, but I'm not sure I've ever actually seen
anything that can plug into them. Everything seems to be USB.

What's firewire actually used for?
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