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"Researchers from security firm Binarly have confirmed that the lapse has resulted in Intel, Lenovo, and Supermicro shipping server hardware that contains a vul

"Researchers from security firm Binarly have confirmed that the lapse has resulted in Intel, Lenovo, and Supermicro shipping server hardware that contains a vulnerability that can be exploited to reveal security-critical information. The researchers, however, went on to warn that any hardware that incorporates certain generations of baseboard management controllers made by Duluth, Georgia-based AMI or Taiwan-based AETN are also affected. ... BMCs are tiny computers soldered into the motherboard of servers that allow cloud centers, and sometimes their customers, to streamline the remote management of vast fleets of servers. ... In general, BMCs should be enabled only when needed and locked down carefully, as they allow for extraordinary control of entire fleets of servers with simple HTTP requests sent over the Internet." For personal computing, any recommendations on motherboard manufacturers who take security seriously?

transpute 2y ago
> For personal computing, any recommendations on motherboard manufacturers who take security seriously? Dell Enterprise devices receive long-term security updates. In addition, Dell will happily sell ProSupport for used hardware, and will even transfer existing ProSupport coverage on used devices (e.g. purchased on eBay). ProSupport gets you competent and US-based tech support engineers with the power to solve tech problems and ordering (e.g. spare parts) quickly. Dell 1L micro PCs / thin clients are affordable on the used market. There's a modern MSI Intel motherboard with coreboot support, https://www.phoronix.com/news/Coreboot-Start-ADL-MSI-Dasharo https://www.phoronix.com/news/Coreboot-Start-ADL-MSI-Dasharo
- WWLink 2y ago
  > ProSupport gets you competent and US-based tech support engineers with the power to solve tech problems and ordering (e.g. spare parts) quickly. 10 years ago I bought a refurb alienware tower really cheap. It, however, came with some "premium" alienware warranty plan. I really can't remember the details anymore, but I encountered a bug in the drivers/software for something on the machine. When I called them about it, I ended up getting US support and they made a ticket for the engineering department. They fixed the issue and called me a week later to thank me for the info and make sure I'd installed the new version of their stuff. I was blown away that they had that level of support for not-enterprise hardware lol. Their normal support is indeed terrible though. Some time later I bought my brother a refurb all-in-one and the DVD drive died after a few months. When I called about that I got somebody who refused to help me because the bios self-test software didn't give me any error codes - because it didn't generate any - because the dvd drive wasn't found at all.
c_o_n_v_e_x 2y ago
Open source BMC firmware (like OpenBMC) is an option now. You can try to find hardware that's been ported.

transpute 2y ago

> For personal computing, any recommendations on motherboard manufacturers who take security seriously? Dell Enterprise devices receive long-term security updates. In addition, Dell will happily sell ProSupport for used hardware, and will even transfer existing ProSupport coverage on used devices (e.g. purchased on eBay). ProSupport gets you competent and US-based tech support engineers with the power to solve tech problems and ordering (e.g. spare parts) quickly. Dell 1L micro PCs / thin clients are affordable on the used market. There's a modern MSI Intel motherboard with coreboot support, https://www.phoronix.com/news/Coreboot-Start-ADL-MSI-Dasharo https://www.phoronix.com/news/Coreboot-Start-ADL-MSI-Dasharo

WWLink 2y ago
> ProSupport gets you competent and US-based tech support engineers with the power to solve tech problems and ordering (e.g. spare parts) quickly. 10 years ago I bought a refurb alienware tower really cheap. It, however, came with some "premium" alienware warranty plan. I really can't remember the details anymore, but I encountered a bug in the drivers/software for something on the machine. When I called them about it, I ended up getting US support and they made a ticket for the engineering department. They fixed the issue and called me a week later to thank me for the info and make sure I'd installed the new version of their stuff. I was blown away that they had that level of support for not-enterprise hardware lol. Their normal support is indeed terrible though. Some time later I bought my brother a refurb all-in-one and the DVD drive died after a few months. When I called about that I got somebody who refused to help me because the bios self-test software didn't give me any error codes - because it didn't generate any - because the dvd drive wasn't found at all.

c_o_n_v_e_x 2y ago

Open source BMC firmware (like OpenBMC) is an option now. You can try to find hardware that's been ported.