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How can a discerning reader tell the difference between this story and an unsubstantiated rumor? "backdoor on all Toshiba hard drives" is an enormous security

How can a discerning reader tell the difference between this story and an unsubstantiated rumor? "backdoor on all Toshiba hard drives" is an enormous security concern for all world citizens.

lokar 3y ago
What would a HDD “back door” even consist of 20+ years ago?
- kylebenzle 3y ago
  No idea, I only got told the story by the commander while we were drinking in our state rooms in the JSDF ship, maybe he was lying? Importantly though they said it was sending data back, THAT was the issue because the navy had used their drives, so basically stealing us gov data.
  - FirmwareBurner 3y ago
    >No idea, I only got told the story by the commander while we were drinking in our state rooms in the JSDF ship, maybe he was lying? Military staff would never lie and are also known to be very tech savvy. Story seems legit to me.
  - rasz 3y ago
    >No idea, I only got told perfect! :) The story makes no sense, but as always with conspiracy theories there is a small grain of truth in there. Asianometry: Toshiba’s Big Technology Export Scandal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaRyqAVIkwI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaRyqAVIkwI
- autoexec 3y ago
  Something in their implementation of SMART or some other chip on the controller? No idea what exactly it would have been a backdoor too. The OS? The BIOS? The data on the drive? Memory? Toshiba has offered a number of hardware and software encryption options over the years, but a casual search didn't turn up much older than 10 years.
  - lokar 3y ago
    No one serious depends on drive encryption, you shred the drive when you are done with it.
kylebenzle 3y ago
You can't, I guess that's the nature of dissiminating top secret information on the Internet, don't believe me, or use it as a jumping off point and look it up, I don't care, just telling you want happened. I could give a few more details but that's the interesting part
0xbadcafebee 3y ago
I think they mean the machines' OS was backdoored, not the hard drive itself. Happened with Lenovo multiple times, could have happened with other manufacturers. https://thehackernews.com/2013/07/Lenovo-banned-Intelligence-Chinese-backdoor-vulnerabilities.html https://thehackernews.com/2013/07/Lenovo-banned-Intelligence... https://thehackernews.com/search/label/Lenovo%20Backdoor%20Malware https://thehackernews.com/search/label/Lenovo%20Backdoor%20M... But also keep in mind the NSA has been backdooring and infiltrating both domestic and foreign commercial entities & critical infrastructure for decades. We can't pretend this is shocking.

How can a discerning reader tell the difference between this story and an unsubstantiated rumor? "backdoor on all Toshiba hard drives" is an enormous security concern for all world citizens.

lokar 3y ago

What would a HDD “back door” even consist of 20+ years ago?

kylebenzle 3y ago
No idea, I only got told the story by the commander while we were drinking in our state rooms in the JSDF ship, maybe he was lying? Importantly though they said it was sending data back, THAT was the issue because the navy had used their drives, so basically stealing us gov data.
- FirmwareBurner 3y ago
  >No idea, I only got told the story by the commander while we were drinking in our state rooms in the JSDF ship, maybe he was lying? Military staff would never lie and are also known to be very tech savvy. Story seems legit to me.
- rasz 3y ago
  >No idea, I only got told perfect! :) The story makes no sense, but as always with conspiracy theories there is a small grain of truth in there. Asianometry: Toshiba’s Big Technology Export Scandal https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaRyqAVIkwI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaRyqAVIkwI
autoexec 3y ago
Something in their implementation of SMART or some other chip on the controller? No idea what exactly it would have been a backdoor too. The OS? The BIOS? The data on the drive? Memory? Toshiba has offered a number of hardware and software encryption options over the years, but a casual search didn't turn up much older than 10 years.
- lokar 3y ago
  No one serious depends on drive encryption, you shred the drive when you are done with it.

kylebenzle 3y ago

You can't, I guess that's the nature of dissiminating top secret information on the Internet, don't believe me, or use it as a jumping off point and look it up, I don't care, just telling you want happened. I could give a few more details but that's the interesting part

0xbadcafebee 3y ago

I think they mean the machines' OS was backdoored, not the hard drive itself. Happened with Lenovo multiple times, could have happened with other manufacturers. https://thehackernews.com/2013/07/Lenovo-banned-Intelligence-Chinese-backdoor-vulnerabilities.html https://thehackernews.com/2013/07/Lenovo-banned-Intelligence... https://thehackernews.com/search/label/Lenovo%20Backdoor%20Malware https://thehackernews.com/search/label/Lenovo%20Backdoor%20M... But also keep in mind the NSA has been backdooring and infiltrating both domestic and foreign commercial entities & critical infrastructure for decades. We can't pretend this is shocking.