New Intel-Based PC’s Permanently Hackable

[DJ13]

The new Intel Core vPro processors contain a new remote access feature which allows 100 percent remote access to a PC 100 percent of the time, even if the computer is turned off. 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. 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.



Real world use for Core vPro processors will involve the following:

Accessing any PC anywhere, no matter what operating system is installed, even if it is physically disconnected from the internet. You see, Core vPro processors work in conjunction with Intel’s new Anti Theft 3.0, which put 3g connectivity into every Intel CPU after the Sandy Bridge version of the I3/5/7 processors. Users do not get to know about that 3g connection, but it IS there. Frank was not stupid so he unplugged his router. Unfortunately for Frank, that won’t work, because anti theft 3.0 always has that 3g connection on also, even if the computer is turned off. Sorry frank, you were good with operating systems, but did not know everything about hardware. And now the real reason for your finicky security habits will be known to the NSA – you found a way to route photons to any place in the world without any sort of cable. You revolutionized communications. You were going public when you returned from your vacation, but thanks to your new Core vPro processors, a major communications firm is going to go public with your invention BEFORE you get home, and your research will be deleted and replaced with “criminal activity” so you will be arrested when you get back and unable to speak about the theft of your invention. Fascism is GREAT.

If a system has the ram chips pulled, a Core vPro processor will read the hard disk anyway because it has all the ram it needs embedded in the vPro core.

If you encrypted your hard drive, a Core vPro processor will read it anyway, because it snagged your encryption key. If your system has been taken apart, and has no video card, ram, floppy, or hard drive, your Core vPro processor nailed you, because you left a flash drive plugged in. Or a CD in the CD drive. And what about that web cam?

http://www.popularresistance.org/new-intel-based-pcs-permanently-hackable/

[LAGC]

1. Time to stock up on legacy parts.

[DJ13]

2. My PC is mostly all legacy parts

Not by choice!

[Savannahmann]

3. I guess the privacy minded will be heading to AMD chips for a while

Perhaps Intel will care when sales drop, but perhaps the NSA is paying them enough to risk the loss of business. More probably, the NSA has some incriminating pictures.

[hobbit709]

4. I pretty much stick to AMD on my personal computers.

[Warpy]

6. I've gone back and forth but no more

It will be AMD for me unless Intel thinks better of this. It will also not be Win 8. I'll hope Microschlock learned their lesson and come out with a better OS next time.

Likely AMD has a few things to exploit and anyone reading my HD would be bored to death. It's just the principle of the thing. I won't participate in the illegal activities of the government by making them easy.

[Egalitarian Thug]

19. Nothing but since Pentium II. With only a very few exceptions, AMD has had better design and

performance for a fraction of the price. I expect that the next iteration of their APU architecture/technology is going to put them back on top in real-world performance.

[Egnever]

5. complete horeshit

Wooo wooo!

[Drew Richards]

7. The woo is strong with this,one.

[dilby]

8. Technology has been around since the late 90's.

This is nothing new, it's basically IMPI built into a chip but requires a slew of requirements like the need for a 3G modem to be in the system and to have a wireless carrier that will support the technology. If you have a desktop you are completely safe unless for some reason you felt the need to install a 3G modem in it. If you have a laptop with 3g built in or a tablet with 3g built in then go with a carrier that does not support Intel Anti-Theft Technology.

[DJ13]

9. Thanks for the info

And welcome to DU!

[dilby]

10. Thank you for the welcome, been lurking on the site for a couple weeks.

I use IPMI daily to manage servers so the ability to turn a server on remotely or check the health status on one that wont post or boot is necessary. A lot of hardware manufacturers charge a hefty licensing fee for this ability like HP and Dell, supermicro gives it away for free. But most servers have this built it, it's just an extra ethernet port on the back of the system that you need to have a cable plugged into, but you can pretty much do everything from it like accessing the BIOS remotely to accessing the OS. You can even install an OS by mounting an ISO image remotely. I would not worry too much about this, is it possible? Yes, but it's just as likely that it could be used to wake your system via your lan connection if you had port 623 open and forwarded to your PC on your router which most people wont do by default.

[winstars]

12. Welcome to DU my friend, its a great place!!! nt

[LittleBlue]

11. I bought AMD parts for my last homebuilt PC

Works great!

F*** you Intel, I'll never buy your overpriced processors again.

[jmowreader]

13. He left out the most important part

If you haven't installed the processor yet, a Core vPro processor will access all your storage devices via the wSATA (wireless Serial ATA) connection built into every hard drive, optical drive and flash drive made since 2010.

I have a good war story you'll like: A computer uses radio-frequency energy to operate, and that energy can escape the confines of the computer's cabinet. The escaped energy is modulated by the data being processed...and it can be demodulated into the data with the right equipment. If the data is secret...well, that's bad. So the government has an approval process called Tempest that keeps this from happening.

One fine year, my unit received a lot of new PCs in late March. Our duty week ended on March 31, and April 1 was a work day for our day crew. So our fun-loving mission control officer typed up an Authentic-Looking Fake Message that claimed to be from our higher headquarters, and claimed that a Tempest issue had surfaced with the new machines. Lots of technical stuff in there and then came the instruction: the Tempest issue could be mitigated by covering the computer with a sheet of 2.5-mil clear polyethylene, which coincidentally was the exact thickness of an Army-issue 33-gallon trash bag. You were allowed to cut a hole in the bag for ventilation. He put this message in the day crew's read file and went home.

On April 4, we got to work and found these morons had put garbage bags or visqueen over every computer in the place. They even put one on my UYK-43



complete with the air hole...this is strange for three reasons: the UYK-43 wasn't on the message, a UYK-43 is three feet taller than a garbage bag is, and it doesn't need an air hole because it's water-cooled.

[jeff47]

15. Um, no. WSATA isn't in "all hard drives".

First, the standards body for SATA is right here. You'll note the lack of "wireless" in any standard.

Second, there are exactly zero wireless SATA devices for sale on places like NewEgg. What is available is enclosures with SATA connectors that connect over 802.11. Not something snuck into a hard disk.

There are some vendors pushing for a wSATA standard to compete with the wireless USB standard. However, pushing for it is a step long before a standard is created, much less "built into every hard drive, optical drive and flash drive".

Hell, many USB optical drives and most USB flash drives don't use SATA at all.

[jmowreader]

16. Read that again...

I know there's no wSATA just as surely as I know a processor that's still sealed in the box can't phone home.

Go to the link in the OP and read the comments; people are pointing out that the "secret 3G connectivity" in the new Intel processors is no secret because you have to put a card in your machine to get it to hook up, and then there's the phone bill...

The article quoted was written by someone whose tinfoil hat was made out of the side of an armored personnel carrier.

[Warren DeMontague]

14. See

this is why I don't use computers.

[MineralMan]

17. I call bullshit on this. Someone's imagination is

working overtime at this unreliable source.

Please check facts on this story.

ETA: So far, this story is only appearing on wackadoo conspiracy sites. They all link back to the same place this post is linked to. For now, I'm taking this as bullshit. If it's on infowars.com, which it is, it's bullshit until proven otherwise.

[bananas]

18. What is Intel® Core™ vPro™ Technology Animation

What is Intel® Core™ vPro™ Technology Animation

channelintel

Published on May 15, 2012

What is Intel® Core™ vPro™ Technology? Built-in hardware assisted manageability and security features that enable PC management in any system state.