Are Intel chips NSA data hubs?

[SlickR12345]

I want to tell you right now I want a serious and technical discussion. I don't want knee-jerk reactions and every post that is garbage will be reported.

With all of the NSA revelations thanks to Edward Snowden, but also even before him from William Binney we know for a fact, we have the documents that they have partnerships with technological and software companies to implement backdoors so they can spy through them.

William Binney: http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Interview-the-original-NSA-whistleblower

Intel P4 chip at the time was reportedly spying and would allow access to your computer. Going into the closer past we have a report about Intel's new Core I chips having a secret 3G chip that can be REMOTELY ACCESSED AND ENABLED.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Secr...uld-Steal-Your-Ideas-at-Any-Time-385194.shtml

http://arstechnica.com/security/201...ias-chip-based-crypto-freebsd-developers-say/

Of course these types of reports are nothing new, back in 2010 there was another similar controversy relating Intel, that time about a feature that could remotely be shut down.

http://www.techspot.com/news/41643-intels-sandy-bridge-processors-have-a-remote-kill-switch.html

So the big question really is, how much is Intel in bed with NSA and how much of our information is in danger? Is Intel also viable for class action lawsuit in breach of consumer trust, hacking, even potentially stealing of private data?

 

[Roland00Address]

Yes they are

 

[escrow4]

What have you got to hide? Youporn? Kinky fetish? Cat pictures?

 

[SlickR12345]

What have you got to hide? Youporn? Kinky fetish? Cat pictures?

I just want to preserve my privacy and my freedom and to be secure in my own home from unreasonable searches and spying.

 

[Idontcare]

I just want to preserve my privacy and my freedom and to be secure in my own home from unreasonable searches and spying.

That isn't going to be possible so long as you are buying stuff made by someone other than yourself.

What you seem to be looking for here is a warm fuzzy story that if you go with brand X instead of Brand Y then all is going to be peachy keen.

If you have your doubts of Brand Y because of conspiracy theory XYZ then you should be equally doubtful of Brand X because there may also be conspiracy theory ABC involving them as well.

If you don't make your own equipment then the bottom line is you are implicitly entrusting your privacy to the faceless and nameless people who are building the very stuff you want to buy and put into your home.

Your personal security starts with you. Entrust it to someone else and you have no one to blame but yourself.

 

[jhu]

I want to tell you right now I want a serious and technical discussion. I don't want knee-jerk reactions and every post that is garbage will be reported.

With all of the NSA revelations thanks to Edward Snowden, but also even before him from William Binney we know for a fact, we have the documents that they have partnerships with technological and software companies to implement backdoors so they can spy through them.

William Binney: http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Interview-the-original-NSA-whistleblower

Intel P4 chip at the time was reportedly spying and would allow access to your computer. Going into the closer past we have a report about Intel's new Core I chips having a secret 3G chip that can be REMOTELY ACCESSED AND ENABLED.

http://news.softpedia.com/news/Secr...uld-Steal-Your-Ideas-at-Any-Time-385194.shtml

http://arstechnica.com/security/201...ias-chip-based-crypto-freebsd-developers-say/

Of course these types of reports are nothing new, back in 2010 there was another similar controversy relating Intel, that time about a feature that could remotely be shut down.

http://www.techspot.com/news/41643-intels-sandy-bridge-processors-have-a-remote-kill-switch.html

So the big question really is, how much is Intel in bed with NSA and how much of our information is in danger? Is Intel also viable for class action lawsuit in breach of consumer trust, hacking, even potentially stealing of private data?

What's with the persistent conspiracy theories of an embedded 3g chip?

here

here

Second link also implicates AMD. So now what are you going to do?

 

[Maximilian]

Isnt it just vPro that has all the snooping stuff? So Xeons only?

 

[Khato]

While the question is fair, the articles being referenced are just your typical conspiracy theory sensationalism. Well, two out of the three at least - the commentary on the rdrand is fair over all, just a bit of a stretch to call that an intentional back door.

Anyway, with respect to the 'secret' 3G chip built in... no, just no. The mere concept of Intel integrating a 3G compliant chip purely into silicon is ludicrous - if they were capable of doing that they wouldn't have waited until the end of this year to release SoFIA, and they'd be fabricating it themselves instead of at TSMC. And as for the 'secret' part, all you have to do is perform a quick search to find some information from when Intel announced the initiative. Here's a key excerpt from http://www.intel.com/content/dam/ww...neration-core-vpro-processor-family-paper.pdf :

Poison pill delivery over a 3G network, which helps reduces the window of vulnerability to respond to PC loss or theft. If the PC is 3G-enabled, it can now receive a poison pill via an encrypted SMS message. 3G connections can now occur out-of-band, without dependencies on BIOS or the OS, via a direct hardware link between Intel AT and the 3G module.

aka, if you have one of those rare Intel laptops which have 3G communication integrated then it can receive the poison pill through that instead of just the 'normal' connections.

 

[SlickR12345]

What's with the persistent conspiracy theories of an embedded 3g chip?

here

here

Second link also implicates AMD. So now what are you going to do?

Its not a theory if its confirmed by leaked NSA documents. We know for a fact that the NSA has partnerships with many hardware and software firms to embed back doors in their products. Question is how deep is Intel in on the conspiracy of illegally and criminally spying or letting NSA spy on people.

 

[Shivansps]

if you want to preserve your privacy disconnect the internet right now, no such thing exist on the internet, you worry about a CPU might spying on you and you already have no privacy by just opening a browser, no NSA is needed here, just search "DigData".

 

[ShadowVVL]

Even if intel is in bed with the NSA all hours of the day so is your isp.

Not much you can do other then cancel your internet and shield your computer room so wifi cant get in.


edit: i guess shivansps beat me to it.

 

[NTMBK]

Integrating a fully functioning 3G modem into a tiny part of the CPU die, with no visible antenna, under a radio-opaque heatspreader and heatsink? Wow, I'm impressed! Intel should be conquering the mobile market any day now with tech like that!

 

[ShintaiDK]

Integrating a fully functioning 3G modem into a tiny part of the CPU die, with no visible antenna, under a radio-opaque heatspreader and heatsink? Wow, I'm impressed! Intel should be conquering the mobile market any day now with tech like that!

Indeed. Qualcomms stocks plummet on this leaked news....oh wait.

Tinfoil blocks the antenna

 

[MisterMac]

Isn't the question more...
What American technology company doesn't have backdoors created for the NSA?


So to end your discussion - don't buy american technology

 

[cytg111]

Mix and match, Intel CPU, Broadcom NIC (no wireless of c.), OpenBSD OS .. A faraday cage for the case should reject those pesky incoming 3G calls to your CPU, openwrt on the router (audited by yourself) and everything routed through TOR.
Soundproof your environment. (sound is such a secret-spilling mistress)
EMP Device with a big red emergency button.. just in case you need to fry everything in the house...(and a handgrenade in the faraday cage..)

- As a bare MINIMUM. Anything less is just kidding yourself.

 

[sm625]

I believe it is the intel management engine that ends up being the backdoor for the NSA. When enabled, it shows up in device manager as a serial port. But I'm sure it has to be enabled in the bios, whether there is an option for it or not. The Dell's, HP's, and probably most other big OEMs surely have it enabled by default, but if you buy a taiwanese mobo and build the system yourself I think you might have control over it. That's how it seems anyway, but it is hard to know for sure.

 

[crashtech]

Even if you give up all technology, they will still be watching you by satellite.

 

[frozentundra123456]

To be honest, I dont know how much of this is real and how much is just conspiracy, but I do know if you are worried about your PC, you better get rid of your cell phone as well, because I think it is a much bigger risk.

 

[Makaveli]

Even if intel is in bed with the NSA all hours of the day so is your isp.

Not much you can do other then cancel your internet and shield your computer room so wifi cant get in.


edit: i guess shivansps beat me to it.

This!!

Any request coming from a high enough government agency will get action-ed by any company regardless of what you think is right or not.

That's just how the system works they can and will look into your activities when they see fit to do so.

 

[witeken]

Brian Krzanich's response: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ycs5l/hi_reddit_im_brian_krzanich_ceo_of_intel_ask_me/cfltop4

 

[SlowSpyder]

What have you got to hide? Youporn? Kinky fetish? Cat pictures?

You can have any freedom you want, as long as the Democrats and Republicans say you can. Why would anyone want more than that? Nothing to hide, no worries!


But I would put concerns about my CPU's possible backdoors and spying capability lower on the list than things like my ISP or a cell phone.

 

[Burpo]

Mix and match, Intel CPU, Broadcom NIC (no wireless of c.), OpenBSD OS .. A faraday cage for the case should reject those pesky incoming 3G calls to your CPU, openwrt on the router (audited by yourself) and everything routed through TOR.
Soundproof your environment. (sound is such a secret-spilling mistress)
EMP Device with a big red emergency button.. just in case you need to fry everything in the house...(and a handgrenade in the faraday cage..)

- As a bare MINIMUM. Anything less is just kidding yourself.

You forgot protection from mind control..

 

[Roland00Address]

Mix and match, Intel CPU, Broadcom NIC (no wireless of c.), OpenBSD OS .. A faraday cage for the case should reject those pesky incoming 3G calls to your CPU, openwrt on the router (audited by yourself) and everything routed through TOR.
Soundproof your environment. (sound is such a secret-spilling mistress)
EMP Device with a big red emergency button.. just in case you need to fry everything in the house...(and a handgrenade in the faraday cage..)

- As a bare MINIMUM. Anything less is just kidding yourself.

No if you mix and match you are going to summon voltron and the power ranger's music is going to be running in the background and you know what happens when the power ranger's music starts.

 

[NTMBK]

Brian Krzanich's response: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ycs5l/hi_reddit_im_brian_krzanich_ceo_of_intel_ask_me/cfltop4

But he would say that wouldn't he :awe:

 

[SlickR12345]

if you want to preserve your privacy disconnect the internet right now, no such thing exist on the internet, you worry about a CPU might spying on you and you already have no privacy by just opening a browser, no NSA is needed here, just search "DigData".

That is the kind of thinking they had in Nazi Germany, Communist China, Soviet Russia, North Korea, oh there is NOTHING you can do, just be a good little slave and go along with it. We all know what that leads to.

What we can do is have a real discussion about this, get all the info, get all the data, get all the leaks, testimonies, etc... and 100% confirm beyond reasonable doubt if Intel is working with the NSA or not and if they are file lawsuits, demand change, protest, petition the government, stop buying Intel products, force top scientists to quit Intel, and ultimately arrest top level officials who went along with the criminal activity.

What do we do with common criminals? We pt them to rot in jail, what so different if these criminals wear suits?