4 ms·

there’s no way to conclusively prove what you suggest. This article isn’t about proving that though, it’s about “hey I wonder what this chip is for.”

teh_klev 8y ago
> This article isn’t about proving that though Um the article kinda is: ... so we deemed this information reliable and immediately raised some critical questions: Is there a wireless chipset soldered onto the MacBook Air’s logic board that we didn’t know about? If so, is it not actually possible to properly air gap a MacBook Air? And their methodology is a bit flawed. This made me shudder: We took out the Air’s logic board to see if we could pry the chip off with a screwdriver. We quickly decided this was a bad idea. We also considered “disabling” the chip by drilling a few holes through it with a Dremel tool or by melting it a bit with a soldering iron. Jeezo.
- PhasmaFelis 8y ago
  You're judging their methodology by what they chose not to do?
  - RX14 8y ago
    If they considered it for long enough to put in the article then its clear they are amateurs in electronics.
    - StavrosK 8y ago
      I'm an amateur in electronics, and I would consider using a heat gun to desolder the BGA-looking chip (which basically means I know what a heat gun does and I know what BGA looks like). The article author's skill level is "I saw some electronics once".
garmaine 8y ago
Use an RF antenna to see if it is putting out any signal.
- iancarroll 8y ago
  Could very well not tx until it receives a wake up message.
  - angry_octet 8y ago
    True. But you could transmit a variety of RF frequencies at the device and try to detect resonance in the antenna. Unfortunately WiFi uses direct conversion rather than IF demodulation, but there is no reason to assume a covert transmitter would use wifi, which is easily spotted by off the shelf equipment. https://youtu.be/ZxyU_1xUOWc https://youtu.be/ZxyU_1xUOWc Micropatch antennas are super hard to detect, even with x-ray, and newer types even harder. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00343-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00343-8

teh_klev 8y ago

> This article isn’t about proving that though Um the article kinda is: ... so we deemed this information reliable and immediately raised some critical questions: Is there a wireless chipset soldered onto the MacBook Air’s logic board that we didn’t know about? If so, is it not actually possible to properly air gap a MacBook Air? And their methodology is a bit flawed. This made me shudder: We took out the Air’s logic board to see if we could pry the chip off with a screwdriver. We quickly decided this was a bad idea. We also considered “disabling” the chip by drilling a few holes through it with a Dremel tool or by melting it a bit with a soldering iron. Jeezo.

PhasmaFelis 8y ago
You're judging their methodology by what they chose not to do?
- RX14 8y ago
  If they considered it for long enough to put in the article then its clear they are amateurs in electronics.
  - StavrosK 8y ago
    I'm an amateur in electronics, and I would consider using a heat gun to desolder the BGA-looking chip (which basically means I know what a heat gun does and I know what BGA looks like). The article author's skill level is "I saw some electronics once".

garmaine 8y ago

Use an RF antenna to see if it is putting out any signal.

iancarroll 8y ago
Could very well not tx until it receives a wake up message.
- angry_octet 8y ago
  True. But you could transmit a variety of RF frequencies at the device and try to detect resonance in the antenna. Unfortunately WiFi uses direct conversion rather than IF demodulation, but there is no reason to assume a covert transmitter would use wifi, which is easily spotted by off the shelf equipment. https://youtu.be/ZxyU_1xUOWc https://youtu.be/ZxyU_1xUOWc Micropatch antennas are super hard to detect, even with x-ray, and newer types even harder. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00343-8 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-017-00343-8