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Science
MINIX: ​Intel's hidden in-chip operating system
2018-01-06
[ZDnet] Buried deep inside your computer's Intel chip is the MINIX operating system and a software stack, which includes networking and a web server. It's slow, hard to get at, and insecure as insecure can be.

Maybe you're not paranoid. Maybe they are out to get you. Ronald Minnich, a Google software engineer, who discovered a hidden MINIX operating system inside "kind of a billion machines" using Intel processors, might agree with this.

Why? Let's start with what. Matthew Garrett, the well-known Linux and security developer who works for Google, explained recently that, "Intel chipsets for some years have included a Management Engine [ME], a small microprocessor that runs independently of the main CPU and operating system. Various pieces of software run on the ME, ranging from code to handle media DRM to an implementation of a TPM. AMT [Active Management Technology] is another piece of software running on the ME."
Posted by:3dc

#18  Well, at least the Chinese are stuck two, both manufacturing them and copying them.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2018-01-06 17:18  

#17  Sounds like Google has the capacity to at least mitigate the problem in Chromebooks.

Otherwise I foresee widespread bricking of WIN computers once hackers get onto this.
Posted by: phil_b   2018-01-06 14:45  

#16  All the spooks and their masters should be forced to learn study and show knowledge of the children's story "Killing the Goose that Laid the Golden Egg".

Also there should be a $ value assigned to all secrets they protect. If some other activity is more valuable and impacted by their protection of that secret or method they should back off. The value should be assigned by independent appraisers.
Posted by: 3dc   2018-01-06 14:05  

#15   Intel CEO's massive stock dump raises eyebrows
by David Goldman

So yes it will be very bad for Intel and Silicon Valley. Hope the fucking spooks are happy at killing another good American business. Fcking Tards.
Posted by: 3dc   2018-01-06 13:52  

#14  #'s 8, 10, 11 & 12 - lighten up, Francis.
Posted by: Raj   2018-01-06 13:46  

#13  M. Murcek: 3DC is one of us long-time 'Burgers. Your vituperative responses do you no honor or admiration. Keep it civil
Posted by: Frank G   2018-01-06 13:06  

#12  Even Ken Thompson designed for a world with only good guys.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-01-06 12:07  

#11  And, to pile on, MINIX was where Torvalds started, though a lot of talented people have contributed since then.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-01-06 12:06  

#10  MINIX was an academic exercise. In the real world it works as well as all other academic exercises, which is to say "not at all." You are still welcome to your dream CPU from Utopia.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-01-06 12:00  

#9  Wikipedia on Minix
Note Minix is professor Andrew S. Tanenbaum's baby so it's Dutch. Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam
Posted by: 3dc   2018-01-06 11:56  

#8  If I were any other country I would be demanding our tech folk come up with their own processors without this spy crap in them and at that point Intel and AMD and Arm end up with very small niche markets.

Spoken like a true ZeroHedge conspiracy addict dimwit.
These "flaws" are part and parcel of CPU design orthodoxy going way back. Hence AMD and ARM also being "flawed."
I wish you luck with your Belgian or Cameroonese designed computer.
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-01-06 11:41  

#7  How bout AMD? I'm not exactly hearing those Ryzen chips are in the clear.

I'm sure we'll hear about AMD's CPU flaws in the upcoming weeks. Granted I've been out of the geek business for over a decade, but I'd like to know how bad the performance hit's gonna be with any Intel / AMD fix.
Posted by: Raj   2018-01-06 11:28  

#6  Right now the whole world uses Intel. If I were any other country I would be demanding our tech folk come up with their own processors without this spy crap in them and at that point Intel and AMD and Arm end up with very small niche markets. Future US generations will point the death of these companies directly at the idiots in the spook world.
Posted by: 3dc   2018-01-06 11:21  

#5  Gen 9
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-01-06 09:03  

#4  What I'm not seeing in the tech media right now is any discussion of whether these problems can be expunged at the hardware level any time soon. Can it be solved by ten 9 Intel silicon? How bout AMD? I'm not exactly hearing those Ryzen chips are in the clear.
More likely, we will be told that "it's complicated," and like obuttholecare and DACA, "people are depending on it."
Posted by: M. Murcek   2018-01-06 09:00  

#3  "Can our intelligence services capitalize on this to access Pudgy's laptop and nuclear systems?"

Just as they may could hack into out battle groups too. This is my issue.
Posted by: newc   2018-01-06 02:23  

#2  Can our intelligence services capitalize on this to access Pudgy's laptop and nuclear systems?
Posted by: Ulaigum Ebbineng7056   2018-01-06 01:14  

#1  We need to re-make all the things.
New internets, new firmware.

Posted by: newc   2018-01-06 00:59  

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