From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on inbox.vuxu.org X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=-1.0 required=5.0 tests=MAILING_LIST_MULTI, T_SCC_BODY_TEXT_LINE autolearn=ham autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 Received: (qmail 15178 invoked from network); 4 Jan 2024 08:42:53 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (2600:3c01:e000:146::1) by inbox.vuxu.org with ESMTPUTF8; 4 Jan 2024 08:42:53 -0000 Received: from minnie.tuhs.org (localhost [IPv6:::1]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTP id 6B37943DEA; Thu, 4 Jan 2024 18:42:42 +1000 (AEST) Received: from freefriends.org (frenzy.freefriends.org [198.99.81.75]) by minnie.tuhs.org (Postfix) with ESMTPS id D0D7A43DD2 for ; Thu, 4 Jan 2024 18:42:32 +1000 (AEST) X-Envelope-From: arnold@skeeve.com Received: from freefriends.org (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by freefriends.org (8.14.7/8.14.7) with ESMTP id 4048gQmS004588 (version=TLSv1/SSLv3 cipher=ECDHE-RSA-AES256-GCM-SHA384 bits=256 verify=NOT); Thu, 4 Jan 2024 01:42:26 -0700 Received: (from arnold@localhost) by freefriends.org (8.14.7/8.14.7/Submit) id 4048gQsN004587; Thu, 4 Jan 2024 01:42:26 -0700 From: arnold@skeeve.com Message-Id: <202401040842.4048gQsN004587@freefriends.org> X-Authentication-Warning: frenzy.freefriends.org: arnold set sender to arnold@skeeve.com using -f Date: Thu, 04 Jan 2024 01:42:26 -0700 To: tytso@mit.edu, crossd@gmail.com References: <6470c59f-a1e5-418f-803d-76bcd761f530@tnetconsulting.net> <20231231224649.h45pogxycgkgs673@illithid> <20231231230615.GE19322@mcvoy.com> <20240103033345.GA108362@mit.edu> <20240103043036.GB108362@mit.edu> <20240103163700.GA136592@mit.edu> In-Reply-To: <20240103163700.GA136592@mit.edu> User-Agent: Heirloom mailx 12.5 7/5/10 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Message-ID-Hash: OCTRXY2TXFUM7ENW3FRAJOBKIY4UBOUQ X-Message-ID-Hash: OCTRXY2TXFUM7ENW3FRAJOBKIY4UBOUQ X-MailFrom: arnold@skeeve.com X-Mailman-Rule-Misses: dmarc-mitigation; no-senders; approved; emergency; loop; banned-address; member-moderation; nonmember-moderation; administrivia; implicit-dest; max-recipients; max-size; news-moderation; no-subject; digests; suspicious-header CC: tuhs@tuhs.org X-Mailman-Version: 3.3.6b1 Precedence: list Subject: [TUHS] Re: Question about BSD disklabel history List-Id: The Unix Heritage Society mailing list Archived-At: List-Archive: List-Help: List-Owner: List-Post: List-Subscribe: List-Unsubscribe: Things have wandered a little far afield... :-) "Theodore Ts'o" wrote: > Or there's something running on a completely different x86 core with > unpatched securiy bugs in the Minix and Apache cores that you can't > even disable (unless you are the National Security Agency).... Sadly, > Intel refuses to make it available the magic bits to disable the Intel > ME to anyone else. :-( I worked for a number of years in the design center where the firmware and software for the ME were develped. Although it's possible that the firmware developers were sworn to secrecy, I never heard anything about back doors for the NSA or anyone else. Intel took security and code quality in the ME very seriously, and during my tenure the quality of the ME firmware improved a lot. ISTR that the BIOS had settings for disabling the ME. Is that no longer true? I know there are lots of people who despise the ME, which I never understood. It was designed to solve the very real problem of remote PC management, and for that it works. My own feeling is, if you don't want the ME, buy a processor without it; there are plenty from Intel and AMD. Quite seriously, and with no animosity, I'd be happy to learn what I'm missing here. Thanks, Arnold