4 ms·

> How exactly has IME ruined the fun for you? The nagging knowledge that no matter how thoroughly I secure my environment it is insecure by design at a base le

by RunSet 4y ago

> How exactly has IME ruined the fun for you? The nagging knowledge that no matter how thoroughly I secure my environment it is insecure by design at a base level. > you don't have to use it Disabling Intel Management Engine is not a feature of the platforms that support it. > Has anyone ever been hacked through IME vulnerabilities? I could not say. Glad you at least acknowledge the vulnerabilities exist. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine#Security_vulnerabilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine#Securi... -------------------------- Edit since I can't reply to the post below: It is not like being afraid to leave the house because a meteorite strike might kill me because staying at home does not afford protection from meteorites but using a system without Intel Management Engine does afford protection from its vulnerabilities. I would say that your position is equivalent to saying "Why are you so upset about the skateboard on the staircase? People can fall down stairs without slipping on a skateboard and anyway as far as I know no one has slipped and fell on this skateboard yet." "Just don't connect it to a public network, including the internet" (airgapping) is a solution to the vulnerabilities posed by Intel Management Engine but I expect most people who purchase computers featuring Intel Management Engine lack that understanding.

ChuckNorris89 4y ago
>The nagging knowledge that no matter how thoroughly I secure my environment it is insecure by design at a base level. That's like worrying about leaving the house since a meteorite strike could kill you. If you're that concerned about the security of your environment then you shouldn't connect your PC to the internet or any wired or wireless network regardless of having IME or not. Everything you didn't design and build yourself from the ground up or which you can't thoroughly inspect and audit in detail is insecure by design and should be treated as such, IME or not, yet the entire world still functions just fine with billions of devices talking to each other over the internet because those are the pros of commonization of hardware and software while we have learned to minimize the security risks associate with that commodization. The threat model you're scared of is easily solved by air gapped systems which is what we have at work in our secure environment making your perceived IME threat blown out of proportion.
tomxor 4y ago
> I would say that your position is equivalent to saying "Why are you so upset about the skateboard on the staircase? People can fall down stairs without slipping on a skateboard and anyway as far as I know no one has slipped and fell on this skateboard yet." Well put. I've found this to be a common and annoying class of flawed discourse: comparing artificial problems of greater severity or potential to that of related but lesser natural and intrinsic problems as a justification for it being acceptable... you can apply the same reasoning to justify making everything as badly as possible, it's nonsense.

by RunSet 4y ago

ChuckNorris89 4y ago

>The nagging knowledge that no matter how thoroughly I secure my environment it is insecure by design at a base level. That's like worrying about leaving the house since a meteorite strike could kill you. If you're that concerned about the security of your environment then you shouldn't connect your PC to the internet or any wired or wireless network regardless of having IME or not. Everything you didn't design and build yourself from the ground up or which you can't thoroughly inspect and audit in detail is insecure by design and should be treated as such, IME or not, yet the entire world still functions just fine with billions of devices talking to each other over the internet because those are the pros of commonization of hardware and software while we have learned to minimize the security risks associate with that commodization. The threat model you're scared of is easily solved by air gapped systems which is what we have at work in our secure environment making your perceived IME threat blown out of proportion.

tomxor 4y ago

> I would say that your position is equivalent to saying "Why are you so upset about the skateboard on the staircase? People can fall down stairs without slipping on a skateboard and anyway as far as I know no one has slipped and fell on this skateboard yet." Well put. I've found this to be a common and annoying class of flawed discourse: comparing artificial problems of greater severity or potential to that of related but lesser natural and intrinsic problems as a justification for it being acceptable... you can apply the same reasoning to justify making everything as badly as possible, it's nonsense.