5 ms·

Intel ME can be used to monitor employees without the OS ever becoming aware of anything. The only way to detect it would be to sniff the network.

SheinhardtWigCo 6y ago
Does this really happen, or would it ever? Seems like a contrived scenario for employees to have enough access and knowledge to detect and defeat a userspace or kernel-resident solution that doesn’t want to be found. Plus, if you’re going that far, you’d want to make sure it wasn’t easily detectable by analyzing network traffic. I’m sure such a thing is out there, but I doubt it’s being used by employers to spy on workers. More like governments spying on workers with access to sensitive IP.
- nitrogen 6y ago
  Yes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Tech... Plus the laptop "anti-theft" BIOSes that phone home whose name I cannot recall.
  - bob1029 6y ago
    Computrace?
    - WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
      That'd be it. My Thinkpads let me permanently disable it.
      - MintelIE 6y ago
        That's what the BIOS claims anyway...
- Spooky23 6y ago
  Nope. It’s all over. Absolute Computrace starts at $29 and is resident in most every OEM BIOS manufactured in the last 20-25 years.
etaioinshrdlu 6y ago
The management at Intel itself are also highly paranoid. They have been using "bossware" for over a decade before COVID. It's just known as a paranoid company. Although, probably a lot of large corps aren't too different.
- dboreham 6y ago
  I experienced this 20 years ago when working on a collaborative project with engineers at Intel. They searched me on leaving the building every day. And this was just an office building, not a final assembly plant where it might be reasonable to want to look for theft of production units. It was like exiting Fry's. I made a mental note then never to work for Intel.
- numpad0 6y ago
  “Only the paranoid survive” is their motto, one of their early CEO even has an autobiography in that title
non-entity 6y ago
I kinda wish I had an intel board atm, because the more I read about ME the more I want to toy with it.
gorgoiler 6y ago
In theory, or have you heard of this being done in practice?

SheinhardtWigCo 6y ago

Does this really happen, or would it ever? Seems like a contrived scenario for employees to have enough access and knowledge to detect and defeat a userspace or kernel-resident solution that doesn’t want to be found. Plus, if you’re going that far, you’d want to make sure it wasn’t easily detectable by analyzing network traffic. I’m sure such a thing is out there, but I doubt it’s being used by employers to spy on workers. More like governments spying on workers with access to sensitive IP.

nitrogen 6y ago
Yes https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Tech... Plus the laptop "anti-theft" BIOSes that phone home whose name I cannot recall.
- bob1029 6y ago
  Computrace?
  - WarOnPrivacy 6y ago
    That'd be it. My Thinkpads let me permanently disable it.
    - MintelIE 6y ago
      That's what the BIOS claims anyway...
Spooky23 6y ago
Nope. It’s all over. Absolute Computrace starts at $29 and is resident in most every OEM BIOS manufactured in the last 20-25 years.

etaioinshrdlu 6y ago

The management at Intel itself are also highly paranoid. They have been using "bossware" for over a decade before COVID. It's just known as a paranoid company. Although, probably a lot of large corps aren't too different.

dboreham 6y ago
I experienced this 20 years ago when working on a collaborative project with engineers at Intel. They searched me on leaving the building every day. And this was just an office building, not a final assembly plant where it might be reasonable to want to look for theft of production units. It was like exiting Fry's. I made a mental note then never to work for Intel.
numpad0 6y ago
“Only the paranoid survive” is their motto, one of their early CEO even has an autobiography in that title

non-entity 6y ago

I kinda wish I had an intel board atm, because the more I read about ME the more I want to toy with it.

gorgoiler 6y ago

In theory, or have you heard of this being done in practice?