Sure, here's some documentation on how to enable remote management in the Intel Management Engine, if it's supported: [1] http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/v

Sure, here's some documentation on how to enable remote management in the Intel Management Engine, if it's supported: [1] http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vpro-amt-management-kvm,3003-6.html http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/vpro-amt-management-kvm,... [2] http://www.howtogeek.com/56538/how-to-remotely-control-your-pc-even-when-it-crashes/ http://www.howtogeek.com/56538/how-to-remotely-control-your-... [3] https://communities.intel.com/thread/21261 https://communities.intel.com/thread/21261 The lack of independent audit of this chip and firmware is legitimate concern. But as you can see, if you obtain a fresh computer with access to the BIOS/UEFI, you have control over whether this functionality is enabled. If you don't have access to your BIOS/UEFI then you're correct that you won't know if it's on.