M$ Confirms Windows Vista OEM BIOS Crack

Microsoft confirmed the fact that hackers have developed a valid Windows Vista crack designed to exploit the operating system's OEM BIOS activation

Alex Kochis, a senior licensing manager with the WGA team revealed that the OEM Activation was a measure introduced concomitantly with Windows XP and designed to streamline the deployment and activation process of the operating system.

“Microsoft worked with OEMs to develop an implementation that would work best for them and their customers while keeping the goals of product activation clearly in focus. As we looked to develop a solution, it was important to ensure that product activation technology could still deliver an acceptable degree of protection, while at the same time, reduce the need for an extra step by the end user,” Kochis revealed.

The Redmond Company introduced a marker in the BIOS of the OEM's motherboard that identifies OEM systems. Via this action, Microsoft managed to intimately connect Windows with a value in the BIOS of the motherboard, and with an OEM machine and an OEM licensed operating system.

“Over the years we've seen examples of BIOS editors that, with some work, allowed people to make an edited BIOS appear to be an OEM BIOS. 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 opined.

READ MORE for how to and link