Date: Sat, 13 Jan 2018 03:33:30 +0100 From: Polytropon <freebsd@edvax.de> To: JD <jd1008@gmail.com> Cc: FreeBSD Users <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> Subject: Re: The Intel Management Engine: an attack on computer users' freedom Message-ID: <20180113033330.a9b37f9c.freebsd@edvax.de> In-Reply-To: <5A5918C9.4060200@gmail.com> References: <5A5918C9.4060200@gmail.com>
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On Fri, 12 Jan 2018 13:21:29 -0700, JD wrote: > Will *-BSD distro OS'es be able to defeat or disable this attack? Regarding the Spectre and Meltdown attacks, please refer to the discussion which already took place on this list and on others (check the archives). Also see: https://lists.freebsd.org/pipermail/freebsd-security/2018-January/009719.html https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/63985/#post-371432 https://www.freebsd.org/news/newsflash.html#event20180104:01 To see the presence of the ME as an attack is possible. But as it operates way below the OS level, there is not much the developers of the BSDs can do about that. _You_ need to take action. One option is to remove devices that have Intel ME from your installation and replace them with devices that don't. Additionally take into mind that "below OS" hardware and soft- ware / firmware is also present in smartphones, in hard disks, and in USB sticks - nearly everywhere. What can anybody do about this? Not much, sadly... This illustrates that you can hardly avoid closed-source technology that is effectively in control of your hardware without any OS interfering. Further information about Intel ME details from 2017's 34C3: Maxim Goryachy and Mark Ermolov: Inside Intel Management Engine https://media.ccc.de/v/34c3-8762-inside_intel_management_engine http://cdn.media.ccc.de/congress/2017/h264-sd/34c3-8762-eng-deu-Inside_Intel_Management_Engine_sd.mp4 Igor Skochinsky and Nicola Corna: Intel ME: Myths and reality https://media.ccc.de/v/34c3-8782-intel_me_myths_and_reality http://cdn.media.ccc.de/congress/2017/h264-sd/34c3-8782-eng-deu-fra-Intel_ME_Myths_and_reality_sd.mp4 -- Polytropon Magdeburg, Germany Happy FreeBSD user since 4.0 Andra moi ennepe, Mousa, ...
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