OS X Security Update renders PGP WDE machines unbootable
A massive security update from Apple plugged more than 130 Mac OS X security holes but left users of PGP's whole disk encryption product locked out of their systems.
Wednesday, customers of PGP, now a division at Symantec, reported being unable to boot their computers after upgrading to Mac OS X 10.6.5. Later that day, PGP posted a warning to its customers using Mac Whole Disk Encryption (MAC WDE) urging them not to upgrade.
In a statement today, Symantec explained to eWEEK that the Apple update released a new version of the boot.efi file that overwrites the previous edition of the file used by PGP Whole Disk Encryption. As a result, the user's machine skips the pre-boot authentication step, effectively preventing the disk from being unlocked prior to boot. The data on the disk however is still recoverable, the company said. "If the update to OS X 10.6.5 has already been made and the machine fails to boot, the data on the machine is not lost," according to Symantec. "The system can be restored using the PGP Recovery CD. Instructions can be found in this Knowledgebase Article."L33tdawg: This is a really 'weak' explanation from Symantec - PGP WDE is not some consumer grade product or shareware! It's an enterprise grade solution that one pays yearly support for not to mention that beta's of 10.6.5 have been out for months. I don't think one would find it particularly amusing to have to pay support for a product only to have it render your system un-bootable. WTF.
