7 ms·
It is like cell phone radios with DMA access. Anything they want, in practice. If you are buying any computer commercially it always has backdoored hardware wit
by zanny 10y ago
It is like cell phone radios with DMA access. Anything they want, in practice. If you are buying any computer commercially it always has backdoored hardware with a wholly proprietary coprocessor with networking and memory access.
- keyle 10y agoReally??
- lucb1e 10y agoYeah, really. It's relatively well known among free software enthusiasts. The trouble is, what do you do about it?
- imtringued 10y agoYou stop using phones.
- lucb1e 10y agoYeah same with those, I'm quite aware, but I do enjoy the benefits of having wireless internet during the 1.5h commute by public transport every day.
- kecks 10y agoBuy a Libreboot T400? It comes without Intel ME and is FSF-certified: https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-t400/ https://minifree.org/product/libreboot-t400/ It is pretty expensive for the amount of performance you get, but you are getting a fully documented, auditable and free product. It comes with instructions on how to update/build/flash/modify your firmware. You're also supporting the Libreboot project.
- Mikushi 10y agoWow, thanks for introducing me to this. Been wanting a new laptop for coding and writing and I would be 100% behind something of that nature. Have you had the chance of using it?
- dublinben 10y agoI have never used the T400, but I am writing this comment on the similar X200 with Libreboot. It's a great little machine for basic tasks like coding and writing.
- kecks 10y agoI haven't yet, but mine is underway. The model I got has 8gb ram, 240gb SSD, 1tb HDD, Core2Duo processor, and is upgradeable to a Core2Quad. However, I'm strongly considering just keeping it as a backup. To me it represents the best possible backup computer, durable and auditable. It's backup for when my current computer breaks down, but also for when new sinister surveillance and encryption laws are passed. Or for when the web turns into even more of a wild-west with hackers and nation-states doing whatever they feel like. I kinda feel like it was a bad idea to even discuss my ordering of this on a non-throwaway, from an IP vaguely linked to me. . That went kinda dark. Guess I haven't been taking enough Soma.
- milcron 10y agoI have a Libreboot-ed X200 and it's pretty great. Haven't tried watching videos on it, but it does web-browsing and coding just fine.
- lottin 10y agoThis project needs more publicity.
- dandelion_lover 10y agoYou donate to or buy from https://neo900.org https://neo900.org.
- zanny 10y agoOn the phone side you would have to use Replicant, which sandboxes the modem. http://www.replicant.us/ http://www.replicant.us/ Problem is the project is mostly dead. Nothing in from the last four years is supported, and its stuck on Android 4.2.
- unusximmortalis 10y agoCan you please share links of evidence of this? Thank you
- pjc50 10y agohttp://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/intel-active-management-technology.html http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-tech... I believe.
- GrumpyYoungMan 10y agoSee http://www.osnews.com/story/27416/The_second_operating_system_hiding_in_every_mobile_phone http://www.osnews.com/story/27416/The_second_operating_syste... Every brand of smartphone has this secondary firmware, entirely separate from the primary OS. Without it, you can't connect to the cellular network.
- amelius 10y ago> has backdoored hardware with a wholly proprietary coprocessor with networking and memory access. Well, they don't even need a separate coprocessor. They could just swap out the registers of the main CPU, and use the full power of that CPU. Basically, it would work like context-switching works in a multithreading environment.
- TorKlingberg 10y agoI used to write software for the cellular radio baseband. I certainly didn't put any backdoors in, but of course it would be possible. I don't think there is any conspiracy though, shared memory is just efficient and convenient for shuffling lots of data. Phone designers are not really trying to have security barriers between hardware components, and on many phones the baseband is inside the same chip as the main processor.