America is behind and will remain behind because our mentality and legal system are incompatible with the digital age. For example, I forget the company, but it was in the news a few years ago, when someone discovered a backdoor on a website. All this person really did was click on a link found through a search engine and as soon as they realized it was not meant to be public, they did the right thing and reported it. This is by no means, hacking. Yet that poor soul was not only fined but also prosecuted for mistakenly discovering the backdoor. The difference between America and overseas is overseas, the company would not have lawyered up, they would have not only thanked him for finding their mistake but also wrote him a check and possibly offered him a job. The reason for this is in America we see hacking as some sort of evil which must be published at all cost with no exceptions. Overseas, hacking is a career. Not only can you get a job as a professional hacker, you can also obtain a college degree in hacking. Further, they reward you for discovering and reporting flaws, as opposed to America, where they punish you for exposing them.
Hello @ Joe C - When I see the quote that appears at the very beginning of that movie, it's obvious what is currently happening in America's schools and colleges. The teaching of American history has been turned completely on it's head and has been done so deliberately. I know it's off topic but I felt I should mention it regardless. "Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past."
I am not surprised Dell systems being some of those affected. The quick response proves that it cares about it users. That is what I call good company with a good intention. I am really moved by this Dell single action to protect its customers.
What now? For my Asus P6T Deluxe, it replies with the same response as a socket 775, saying "Unknown".
that is strange...go to asus and check if your running the latest firmware...also check asus forums and see if theirs reports of this vulnerability for your system.
Hello @ RJARRRPCGP - I went to the Asus support website and downloaded the owner's manual for their P6T Deluxe mobo. I read it from cover to cover and found no mention of Intel AMT/ME being used on that particular mobo, which explains why you see "unknown" as the result. As I stated previously, AMT/ME resides on a separate chipset on the motherboard itself. AMT/ME does interact with the main CPU but is not physically a part of it. Given your result and the lack of any mention in your owner's manual of how to activate or use AMT/ME, I would say you're safe and have nothing to worry about.
Isn't it the same firewall you bypass when remotely doing reinstallation of your operating system? It is clear most people with the ability to exploit such vulnerability would as well be capable of bypassing the firewall in some cases. Meanwhile, I am glad you have applied the firmware fix to feel safe despite 'safe' in itself as eulogized often is not 100% guaranteed on the internet. Hackers would always have a way around things. For those of you interested in knowing some of the vulnerable processors we now have 'INTEL-SA-00079' on the list.
No, everything's internal. When I was using OpenBSD for my firewall box, I set up port knocking (security by obscurity - frowned on by some) to open a service port if I needed external access. These days I don't bother with that and use certificates on my portable kit for authentication. My current router is one of those mentioned/exploited in the recent 'leaks' of supposed NSA stuff. It's fixed now, too. You're right, nothing is 'safe'. All we can do is at least not make it easy for them and fill in the holes as they appear.