Quote from: Haxxy on June 03, 2011, 08:06:18 PM

So I suppose you'd crack the local admin password on each of the machines (which is remarkably simple) and set up the miner as an "all users" startup program. The only problem with that is that it's time consuming.

Just speculating, by the way. I love speculative hacking. =P

EDIT: Wait, you have to literally use a key card to sign into the computer? That's a bit odd, isn't it?

I think he meant manually sign on... On a side note, there was a lab that I visited before that required all users authenticate via SmartCards. It's been built into Windows GINA for quite a while and of course PAM for 'nix, too. Biometrics are another one that are common in some places - not for security, but for ease of access. Most Biometrics systems (cough*lenovo*cough) just store the users password along with a biometric key. When a user swipes their finger - it just provides their normal password. The opposite of improving security.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa375457(v=vs.85).aspx

In order to "simply" break an admin password, you need physical access and the ability to change the boot media. At that point, it would be much simpler to use the revisor image I keep rattling on about...... with a little work, you could easily set up a service (init.d script) to automatically start mining on boot with no GUI. A crond to reboot or shutdown and there's absolutely no trace you were there.

I only mention "no trace" because the goal is to keep the machines production ready - not for the legal implication of evidence.