SecureBoot Issues

01/22/2021

As some of you may have heard, a severe security issue was discovered in July 2020, known as BootHole.

In summary, BootHole is a critical issue in GRUB, which is the startup component used by most non-Windows operating systems. This includes our OS, Symobi, which our self-booting tools such as HDClone and HDShredder are based upon. BootHole caused limitations in all of our product releases after July 2020. These releases could not be started on systems on which SecureBoot was activated.

From then on until now, in order for our products to be started directly from bootable media, SecureBoot had to first be deactivated in the UEFI/BIOS. The product variants that run directly on Windows (.exe) were not affected. Also, all releases prior to July 2020 were not affected and could still be started on SecureBoot-enabled systems, even after July 2020 (for HDClone this applies to versions prior to and including 10.1.0).








We would like to apologize for any inconvenience that this may have caused you. Since its emergence, we have been working feverishly on finding a solution to this third-party issue.

Today, we are happy to announce that we have worked out a solution that will allow our users to start our Symobi-based products (HDClone, HDShredder, Miray Evidence, etc.) on SecureBoot-enabled systems, just as it was possible before July 2020.

If you are currently using a release newer than HDClone 10.1.0, please download the current release of HDClone (10.1.4 or newer) now. You will then be able to start HDClone on SecureBoot-enabled systems without the need for changes in UEFI/BIOS setup.

To clear and download the latest version of your product, please enter your license key at: https://www.nanoways.com/esd/.

To prevent effects of this magnitude in the future, Microsoft and major Linux distributions are currently working on redesigning the entire process that enables SecureBoot for non-Windows operating systems. Miray is also participating in these efforts, the results of which will enhance operating system security in general. This will ultimately benefit any PC user, including our Miray customers, as we expect that all affected operating systems will eventually switch to this new process.

This transfer will occur in a second phase during which ALL current OS versions (incl. Linuxes and others) that are affected by BootHole will become unable to start on SecureBoot systems – this time, this will also apply to older releases. These OSes will then require an additional update in order to re-enable their SecureBoot bootability.

We are currently working with Microsoft and other parties involved to ensure an easy and, above all, seamless transition for the customers of our software products.

21/68

News archive