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From: dfeustel@mindspring.com
To: Jeffrey Goldberg <jeffrey@goldmark.org>
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Date: Thu, 12 Jun 2008 00:17:13 +0000 (UTC)
Cc: David Naylor <naylor.b.david@gmail.com>, freebsd-questions@freebsd.org
Subject: Re: FreeBSD and User Security
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On Wed, Jun 11, 2008 at 06:53:18PM -0500, Jeffrey Goldberg wrote:
> [mailed and posted]
>
> On Jun 11, 2008, at 4:03 PM, YANSWBVCG wrote:
>
>> It is my understanding that since 1995 all computers must have a
>> hardware back door that permits undetectable access by the government to
>> the computer. This capability can be implemented using System
>> Monitor(Maintenance) Mode which is built into all x86 computers now. It
>> would appear that, if you are connected to the internet, the government
>> has access to your computer.
>
> This is not the place to get into this debate, but I think that someone 
> should state for the record that the vast majority of security experts 
> would disagree with you.

A relatively new security threat known as 'The Blue Pill', based upon
hardware, is a class of virtual rootkits that can silently take over
Intel and AMD systems. A good site to visit to learn about these virtual
rootkits is http://invisiblethings.org/index.html.