3 ms·

If not Intel/AMD, who are you buying your processors from?

• anonym29 4y ago
  Right now, I use a Power 9 (PPC64 arch) processor made by IBM for my main workstation. It is 100% open source - every bit of the firmware, and hardware schematics too. I have a few old laptops with Intel and AMD processors that predate the age of ME and PSP, respectively, but they are not powerful enough for running multiple VMs, background services, a few dozen browser tabs, streaming and decoding video over SMB, etc like I do on my workstation.
  • ShredKazoo 4y ago
    Interesting, does being open source actually offer meaningful protection against hardware supply chain attacks though?
    • anonym29 4y ago
      No, but the concern with Intel and AMD security coprocessors isn't a hardware supply chain attack (like what NSA's TAO unit does with hardware interdiction), it's with a component that we can reasonably assume to be untrustworthy that is guaranteed to be present in every CPU as a "feature". We cannot read the source of CSME or AMD ST firmware. We cannot inspect what it is doing. I can read the source of all firmware for all parts of my CPU. I can inspect what it is doing. This is what the benefit really boils down to - it's not a guarantee of security, but it is a guarantee you can actually audit what your silicon is doing.