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MINIX: ​Intel's hidden in-chip operating system - Page 2
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MINIX: ​Intel's hidden in-chip operating system

24

Comments

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran
  • @WSS said:

    @Edmond said:
    Hmm... so Intel installs backdoor into people's PCs and you can't do much about it without risking the chance of bricking the system... Well.... you learn something new everyday!

    Or, you know, ten years ago..

    K, probably have known but didn't really care enough to try and hope I don't brick my PC. Happy now?

  • subjugatingsubjugating Banned, Member

    Puri.sm is the newest breed of manufacturer that got Intel ME disabled. So, I believe they could save us. Or go with good old T400 laptops and Libreboot and a free/libre OS on top of it.

  • JarryJarry Member
    edited November 2017

    It seems there is already working attack on Intel ME. This one is local (over usb), but it is just a matter of time when similar attack over eth appears...

    http://securityaffairs.co/wordpress/65327/hacking/intel-management-engine-flaw-hack.html

    https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=2017-5689

  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran

    Get a chrome book, these run on ARM and google runs there own solution on there, put Debian on, problem solved.

    But no idea how good this performs.

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran
    edited November 2017

    Neoon said: Get a chrome book, these run on ARM and google runs there own solution on there

    Nah, as said above:

    Technically the evil inventor is neither intel nor amd. It's arm who invented the "trustzone" cancer which has become the core at intel and amd, too.

    Modern ARM contains TrustZone, which is a small separate CPU in a CPU, running proprietary secret code. Who knows which backdoors it might contain. Maybe ARM is not worse than Intel, but it's not any better either.

  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran

    So, we are doomed, crap. Go and buy AMD FX.

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • @Neoon said:
    So, we are doomed, crap. Go and buy AMD FX.

    Oh, that's just the part (tip of the iceberg) that happened to be discovered...

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran
    edited November 2017

    I am waiting for the moment, when they use the Network exploit and open Servers and Desktops like tin cans.
    Thats gonna be fun

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • Such exploit might exist already...

  • NeoonNeoon Community Contributor, Veteran

    @Jarry said:
    Such exploit might exist already...

    I am sure that it already exists, just the question of time when it goes BIG.

    Thanked by 2default netomx
  • Thanked by 2netomx mrTom
  • @Ole_Juul said:

    WSS said: Pretty sure that the Core2Duo was the last-of-breed that didn't have a way to fuck with the underlying system transparently to the OS.

    I'm curious if you have any more details like that, or a link. I just put together a new Tor box and deliberately used an Intel Pentium 4 511 on a 915GEV mother board. That's probably safe and it certainly is plenty powerful for secure communication and basic browsing.

    Sure.

  • If only we could use routers with MIPS, as desktops and servers.

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran

    default said: MIPS, as desktops

    MIPS is not in the best state right now, but still there is some MIPS hardware powerful enough to be used as a light desktop.

  • @rm_ said:
    MIPS is not in the best state right now, but still there is some MIPS hardware powerful enough to be used as a light desktop.

    2018 will be known as the year of OpenWRT on the desktop.

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran

    WSS said: 2018 will be known as the year of OpenWRT on the desktop.

    It supports Debian, thanks.

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • @rm_ said:

    WSS said: 2018 will be known as the year of OpenWRT on the desktop.

    It supports Debian, thanks.

    apt-get install luci-ssl

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • fwiw they only started using MINIX recently. It was ThreadX RTOS for years until they changed to MINIX. Much smaller attack surface.

    Thanked by 1vimalware
  • I can't wait for iTron to make a comeback.

  • bsdguybsdguy Member
    edited November 2017

    @rm_ said:

    default said: MIPS, as desktops

    MIPS is not in the best state right now, but still there is some MIPS hardware powerful enough to be used as a light desktop.

    The Russians don't have only the Baikal T1 (which isn't exactly hot and arm based iirc). They have, for instance also their own sparc based (and heavily enhanced) multicores (currently 4 but the 8-core is near production) which, to make it funnier, can also be grouped; I have seen boards with 4 of them.

    The Chinese also have risc (even mips) based processors and they are not at all lousy.

    And, risking to sound crazy, there's still the PIC Mipsen. Granted they are mcus but still, those are good enough for many things.

    And of course there's the growing risc-v (not a mips but a risc anyway and very promising - and "clean").

    In other words: We are doomed because we are (have allowed government and business to make us) pampered idiots needing a bloated fat clickedy-click Mega-Gui system even on a phone. kde and gnome are about as insane, bloated crap as is windows; hundreds of MB of memory needed just for a start screen. Another example: it seems to be utterly normal nowadays for an editor package to be in the 50 - 150 MB range ... oh and don't get me started on browsers...

    Thanked by 1default
  • @bsdguy uses only government-approved Qt based widgets.

    Thanked by 1default
  • @WSS said:
    @bsdguy uses only government-approved Qt based widgets.

    LIAR! You know quite well that actually I only use a KDE based distro running as a browser plugin. That's for sakkurity. Unlike certain gentlemen here (I can afford to be unspecific as anyone knows that you are meant anyway) I do care about sakkurity. That's also the reason I don't use the intel hw prng but only good stuff from an rsa stick.

  • I was actually fairly impressed by the functionality of KDE 2. I finally dug into it during KDE 3. I was no longer impressed with the ideology- even if their shitty browser was better than Netscape.

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran
    edited November 2017

    bsdguy said: sparc based (and heavily enhanced) multicores (currently 4 but the 8-core is near production)

    The current Elbrus lineup is not SPARC-based, they are entirely their own VLIW architecture.

    But while Baikal MIPS seems okayish, I would not trust Elbrus, the only compiler existing for that very complex architecture is proprietary, and they almost take pride in how many "trade secrets" it contains, with "no chance in hell" wrt open-sourcing it.

    Makes me wonder how many backdoors it also happens to contain.

    Thanked by 1vimalware
  • @rm_ said:
    Elbrus line is not SPARC-based, they are entirely their own VLIW architecture.

    But while Baikal MIPS seems okayish, I would not trust Elbrus, the only compiler existing for that very complex architecture is proprietary, and they almost take pride in how many "trade secrets" it contains, with "no chance in hell" wrt open-sourcing it.

    Makes me wonder how many backdoors it also happens to contain.

    Holy fuck are they hiring? The 90s were pretty awesome.

  • rm_rm_ IPv6 Advocate, Veteran

    WSS said: Holy fuck are they hiring?

    Yes: http://mcst.ru/vakansis

    Prepare to learn Русский and relocate.

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • @rm_ said:
    Prepare to learn Русский and relocate.

    Vodka is good; I can deal.

    Thanked by 1netomx
  • @rm_ said:

    bsdguy said: sparc based (and heavily enhanced) multicores (currently 4 but the 8-core is near production)

    The current Elbrus lineup is not SPARC-based, they are entirely their own VLIW architecture.

    But while Baikal MIPS seems okayish, I would not trust Elbrus, the only compiler existing for that very complex architecture is proprietary, and they almost take pride in how many "trade secrets" it contains, with "no chance in hell" wrt open-sourcing it.

    Makes me wonder how many backdoors it also happens to contain.

    Oops, you are right, I mixed them up.

    However, I find the Elbrus processors extremely interesting from a technical pov.

    Regarding trust, oh well, we've all heard it day and night how super evil them Russians are. I, however, have another view: wrt intel, amd, arm we know that they can't be trusted and have backdoors - with the Elbrus processors there is a reasonable chance that they can be trusted (and yes, I generally tend to trust the Russians).

    But as I said the processors aren't the real problem; the real problem is stupidity, ignorance, limitless greed, and crappy bloatware i.a. as "OS". As someone working also with mcus (in my case typ. 16 bit and occasionally 32 bit) I know what can be done with very little memory and a cpu which has a performance similar to that of an 8086 or maybe 80286.

  • JesusJesus Member
    edited November 2017

    vish said: @jesus this is scary

    I am with you, son. You just have to believe in me. No need to fear.

    Thanked by 1netomx
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