A Preliminary Study on the security performance of Chrome OS)

Google promised that users of the new Chrome OS would "not worry about viruses, malware, or install security updates ." Of course, it is too early to fully evaluate the security of Chrome OS. It will take at least a year for the operating system to be officially released. Although Google has released the source code for this operating system, you need to compile the source code before running Chrome OS. however, in any case, at least this compiled version can be used to gain a glimpse of the role of the leopard. We may take this opportunity to look at the security situation of Google's so-called brand-new operating system.

 

In fact, there are many reports and introductions about Chrome OS. Google once published an article on the future development plan of the Chrome OS Operating System security technology. Of course, these plans may not be fully implemented, but in the current version alone, the security features are exciting.

 

Chrome OS updated at any time:

All system-level code of Chrome OS is stored in one partition, and user-level data must be stored in another partition. The two types of data cannot coexist in the same partition. From this perspective, Microsoft's design philosophy is somewhat similar. In Windows, application programs and Windows system configuration files are also stored in two different directories in the same partition, of course, this method of separate storage is not as thorough as Chrome OS.

 

In Chrome OS, the automatic update function is not as adjustable as in Windows. In Windows, users can easily disable the automatic update function, however, Chrome OS forces the system to update automatically, and users cannot disable this function on their own. In my opinion, Microsoft should adopt a method that only senior users can find to disable automatic update settings, while Microsoft apparently did not.

According to Google Will Drewry's sectionVideoDisplay: When the Chrome OS downloads the upgrade file, the file will be installed in an inactive partition. After the download is complete, the system will check the upgrade file again before updating, in this way, even if the upgrade is interrupted halfway, only half of the upgrade will not occur.

When Chrome OS is started, it verifies the system file:

Every time the system restarts, Chrome OS checks the digital signature of the system files to ensure that these files have not been modified. If the system file changes abnormally, the system will immediately use the Upgrade Program to restore the files to their original state. In this way, only one restart is required, then the threat of malware can be completely eliminated. So, isn't the virus able to achieve its own goal by changing the review process? According to the system file verification steps displayed by Will Drewry's video, it seems difficult for the virus to change this review program.

 

This security policy is not used for the first time after a virus is detected and is reset back to the original state. Microsoft once provided a software named Window SteadyState, which can restore system files to their original state every time the system is restarted. Third-party software vendors have also developed many similar software for Windows. However, because Windows does not adopt the design to separate system files from user files, the user files will be restored to the initial state after each restoration, chrome OS does not have this problem.