Skip to main content

Is The Intel Chip In Your Motherboard a backdoor?

Ever since Damien Zammit revealed Intel's Active Management Engine, a self-contained microcontroller, there have been calls for declaring this for what it is - a backdoor to your computer.

AME or ME (Management Engine) is a microcontroller, a fully independent CPU apart from the main CPU you know and control. It cannot be disabled. It is active even if your computer is in hibernation or turned off (as long as it's connected to the main outlet). It is placed there to help IT enterprise to manage computers remotely. This is a problem with the enterprise and this is Intel's solution.

Some points to remember about Intel's Management Engine:
  • It has full access to your computer's memory and everything it is connected to by TCP/IP; it can control memory and all peripherals.
  • It can send and receive network signals even if the computer is turned off or through a firewall.
  • It can't be disabled in new Intel chips. In Intel Core2 and newer processors.

I have a problem with the last point. If this is not a malicious feature (the intention is to help in management) the feature should be optional. If Management Engine is a security feature and should therefore be default and persistent then I object to it. In any case, the firmware to Management Engine is proprietary. Nobody but Intel can see and modify it. With the recent WNCry ransomware attack, I will hate to see Management Engine turned over to malicious parties.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Password Issues On Ubuntu Login

I found myself unable to enter my login credentials when prompted to do so in Ubuntu. I think I might have changed it then forget about it. I've been running the current session for more days than I should have. I forget. So what's the solution to my problem. How do I get in to my system now? It involved getting into the grub menu somehow. I am uncertain as to how to do that exactly in your system. So there's a couple of ways to do it (finger's crossed). When booting at system start, use the esc key or the shift key. The first one worked for me. The timing is key. Wait until the bios banner shows then hit the esc key once. I am using Ubuntu 22.04.4 here. I have a current version of grub. The grub menu will give you options and the one you want is: root. Yes you want root privileges to set the root password. It should give you a terminal access where you can issue commands. Type: #mount -rw -o -s remount / ==> this command mounts the filesyste...
Post a Comment
Read more

New ZFS Pool And the New 4TB Hard Drive

I am using the new pool for my videos and music. Downloading them using my torrent client, transmission. The old pool is raidz2 and now I am using a raidz1 only. But and a big but I gained space of up to 4.5 TB.
Post a Comment
Read more

2024 So Far

I have a feeling of moving earth or walking off my itchiness. The growing fat in my belly tells me I am failing on many occasions to give in to this urge. My eyes are blurred by morning glory. I remember my father having the same ritual in the morning. After his weak stroke, he couldn't speak much, just a grunt but he would demonstrate with hand how he liked to wash his face. The weather wasn't helping. It's been raining cats and dogs the past week. The province of Rizal was soaked and spilled volumes of water into the bay and Laguna lake. Our Caimito tree was cut to no more than 4 feet from the ground. It was towering above the corrugated sheet metal of our roof. Now it lay horizontal on the yard. I calculated it could be made into a whole table and chairs set by a talented carpenter artist. I showed Lino the two big pieces of trunk that could only be moved if cut by a power saw in place. The road widening project in San Mateo was in the middle stage. One side of the road ...
Post a Comment
Read more