"…highlights the ability for an administrator to shut down PCs remotely
“even if the PC is not connected to the network,” as well as the ability
to bypass hard drive encryption."
“Intel actually embedded the 3G radio chip in order to enable its Anti
Theft 3.0 technology. And since that technology is found on every Core
i3/i5/i7 CPU after Sandy Bridge, that means a lot of CPUs, not just new vPro,
might have a secret 3G connection nobody knew about until now,”reports
Softpedia.
Jeff Marek, director of business client engineering for Intel, acknowledged
that the company’s Sandy Bridge” microprocessor, which was released in
2011, had “the ability to remotely kill and restore a lost or stolen PC via
3G.”
“Core vPro processors contain a second physical processor embedded within
the main processor which has it’s own operating system embedded on the chip
itself,” writes Jim Stone. “As long as the power supply is available and
and in working condition, it can be woken up by the Core vPro processor,
which runs on the system’s phantom power and is able to quietly turn
individual hardware components on and access anything on them.”
The above says it all: a second processor with its own operating system and
phantom power supply which doesn't need to be connected to YOUR network (or
any existing network you know of) because a secret 3g connection is built in!
Free software is great. However once it is installed on a machine with a chip
containing these other "features", it loses its freedom, as it is at the
mercy of the other software built deep inside the hardware chip. It is a huge
security and privacy lapse. Encryption is also bypassed. Wow.
As RMS says it will take lots of reverse engineering, and perhaps large
bounties paid to those who can crack certain features. A never ending cat and
mouse game.
The apparent old model of disinterested makers of computer hardware who would
not reveal their firmware or microcode has changed from disinterest to
complete interest in having the power and the benefits of having the keys to
the kingdom remain under their control.
I can see why they are reluctant to "give" that power away. And why they
often say, "What's in it for us if we release the code?" It's good to be
king.
