UEFI 'Restricted Boot' Will Usher in Rootkits Into Linux
Last week was relatively eventful in GNU/Linux news, with the biggest news probably being Valve's plans for Steam on GNU/Linux, including something that's akin to gaming consoles, even ambitions for rootkits inside Linux (under the guise of "anti-cheat").
Many people learned about rootkits almost 20 years ago because of what Sony had done to Windows users (Groklaw wrote a lot about this). Few understand the concept of rootkits and even fewer associate "anti-cheat" (typically accompanied by kill switches and TPMs) with rootkits.
It is very nice to learn that owing to Valve more people will move to GNU/Linux, but how many of them are going to move to GNU/Linux because of freedom or move there to find freedom later? This is debatable. We don't quite know...
The "anti-cheat" rootkits aspects will probably be discussed a lot more in years to come because there is a strong correlation or connection to 'restricted boot' and the general agenda of complete system lock-down, i.e. locking users out of their own systems (in effect).
Those of us who understand and value what it means to truly own our devices should definitely be alarmed by these trends. █