We are pleased to announce that the Systems Boot and Security Microconference has been accepted into the 2020 Linux Plumbers Conference!

Computer-system security is an important topic to many. Maintaining data security and system integrity is crucial for businesses and individuals. Computer security is paramount even at system boot up, as firmware attacks can compromise the system before the operating system starts. In order to keep the integrity of the system intact, both the firmware as well as the rest of the system must be vigilant in monitoring and preventing malware intrusion.

As a result of last year’s microconference Oracle sent out patches to support Trenchboot in the Linux kernel and in GRUB2. An agreement was also reached on problems with TPM 2.0 Linux sysfs interface.

Over the past year, 3mdeb has been working on various open-source contributions to LandingZone and also GRUB2 and Linux kernel to improve TrenchBoot support.

This year’s topics to be discussed include:

• Continued work on TrenchBoot
• TrenchBoot and UEFI runtime services
• Passing the bootloader logs to the kernel/userspace
• LinuxBoot – UEFI support improvements in the kernel
• SMI Transfer Monitor (STM) and its impact on security
• More topics that cross the firmware/Linux boundary

Come and join us in the discussion about how to keep your system secure even at bootup. We hope to see you there!