I bought a used laptop that runs bios update for remote access on every restart. Could the person I bought it from have installed that to hack me? Do I need it? Should I remove it? I have no interest remotely accessing my laptop, so if that's what the program is for, I don't need it. My operating system that was installed prior to my purchase of laptop is Ubuntu 18.4
2 Answers
Hello and welcome to the Ask Ubuntu forums!
You don't need a BIOS update for remote access to your computer. If you use tools like SSH with VNC or the TeamViewer application you have all the remote access you need without any special BIOS. So no you don't need it. Except your laptop allows for control at boot, but I don't think so. Never heard of it.
If you purchased a used computer from someone else, it is a pretty terrible idea to continue to use the installed OS.
It is totally possible that there could be all kinds of malware on the PC: the prior user could have put it on there deliberately, or they could have obtained it unknowingly.
You have no idea what is on the PC. Best practice is to reformat the hard drive and cleanly install the operating system when obtaining a used computer. This will also make sure that you are not inheriting any system problems that could have arisen with the last user of the device.
As far as updating the BIOS, it has nothing to do with remote access. The BIOS is the motherboard firmware. Flashing the BIOS is something that is best done prior to installing an operating system, but it's generally not a requirement to update the BIOS unless the manufacturer has pushed a serious bug fix, or the newer BIOS version contains features that you need. When flashing a new BIOS always follow the manufacturer's instructions to the letter, because incorrectly flashing a BIOS has the potential to brick your device.
