no vPro = no MEI? (sort of)

[7point5]

if a CPU don't have vPro (like the K versions of 2600 or 7700) does this mean it won't have MEI?

 

or at least it won't have AMT? (the dangerous part of MEI with the exploits & backdoors & vulnerabilities & sh)

 

ps. I googled this extensively & only get contradictory answers so no one seem to know :/

[difinity]

It will have the Intel ME but it won't have AMT.

 

ps. It's on the Wikipedia page.

[Arthur]

if a CPU don't have vPro (like the K versions of 2600 or 7700) does this mean it won't have MEI?

What @difinity said...

 

[7point5]

k thx

 

now this a tricky question: I read that the ME has "super low level access to network card" so my question is, without vpro can ME still use my network card to connect to the web & dial home or does it need vpro/AMT to do so?

 

(basically my question is can Intel still use their backdoor even without vpro)

[mavhc]

There is no backdoor, monitor the network traffic and see

[7point5]

k so that's yet another question: if ME has lowest level access to network cards does this mean they can hide their traffic so that even Netstat doesn't show it?

[psydii]

If it bothers you use iOS. Apple are the only hardware / OS vendor to take a stand against unwarranted incursions to user device data. Obviously, though it might be a double bluff.

[7point5]

lol Apple got like 3x the a$$ets of Intel so their even more dishonest

[psydii]

Pft. Go to the supermarket and buy some tinfoil.

 

No wait. The Bilderberg group made sure that doesn’t work anymore by shutting down the tin mines and backing the aluminium producers instead. 🦆 🦆

 

 

If you are bothered by the potential of backdoors in your hardware and you lack the resources(*) to do first hand investigations, you either have to completely disengage from modern technology or just come to terms with it. (I assume you’ve never been on Facebook?)

 

*i.e. you are not a nation state or billion dollar company.

[7point5]

Pft. Go to the supermarket and buy some tinfoil.

 

No wait. The Bilderberg group made sure that doesn’t work anymore by shutting down the tin mines and backing the aluminium producers instead. 🦆 🦆

 

 

If you are bothered by the potential of backdoors in your hardware and you lack the resources(*) to do first hand investigations, you either have to completely disengage from modern technology or just come to terms with it. (I assume you’ve never been on Facebook?)

 

*i.e. you are not a nation state or billion dollar company.

facebook u kidding right? I'll be damned if I ever use this sh

I'd also elaborate on the sort of fate I wish befalls the corrupt POS who founded this (hey one can only hope) but it'd be probably violate forum rules :/

 

and I only use M$ cause it's the only OS for gaming so no choice there either (else I'd only have Linux on my HD)

 

but hey I totally understand your viewpoint I mean, morality's proportionate to wealth so obviously megacorps can do no wrong & only an anarcho-communist™ would think otherwise, and who are we the commonfolk to judge the elites & doubt their purely altruistic intents, etc. etc.

 

so how about this I get the tin/aluminium hat, and you drop w/e you're doing & go work in coal (that's what the elites want us to do now apparently) deal?

Edited March 26, 2018 by 7point5

[7point5]

anyway offtopic politics always fun but - any answer to my questions perchance?

 

1)

without vpro can ME still use my network card to connect to the web & dial home or does it need vpro/AMT to do so?

2)

if ME has lowest level access to network cards does this mean they can hide their traffic so that even Netstat doesn't show it?

[mavhc]

Plug your suspicious computer into a linux computer with 2 network ports, set to forward the traffic, but also monitor it, then you can see what's actually being sent. Spoiler alert: people have done this, the answer is nothing.

[psydii]

1) Try this tool. https://downloadcenter.intel.com/download/26375/Intel-Manageability-Commander It does imply you have to initialise things in Firmware first. TBH IDK.

 

2) Yes, the firmware runs below / separate from the OS so code there can hide what is really happening from the host OS. Does it actually do this? Again IDK - but the recent ME security bulletins lead one to believe that this sort of thing has at least been shown in a PoC. While it might be able to hide from the host, you'd still see the traffic as it traverses other network devices. See @mavhc's post. Of course they are not likely to be spying on you, but if you are doing things that might warranty that level of monitoring then you ought to assume they can.

[7point5]

Plug your suspicious computer into a linux computer with 2 network ports, set to forward the traffic, but also monitor it, then you can see what's actually being sent. Spoiler alert: people have done this, the answer is nothing.

I've a router between my pc & the wall will that do? (will the router still see traffic that the ME hides from windows?)

 

 

but if you are doing things that might warranty that level of monitoring then you ought to assume they can.

if I was a hacker/dealer/terrorist/whatever then I'd have nothing to be concerned about (it's not the guilty who've anything to fear nowadays)

come to think of it I should've been a hacker :/

 

on the other hand I don't like the idea of my pc being turned into a zombie or spam relay or something because of crap ME & its vulnerabilities

or Intel themselves using ME to steal my personal info then selling it to their commercial partners

Edited March 26, 2018 by 7point5

[mavhc]

I've a router between my pc & the wall will that do? (will the router still see traffic that the ME hides from windows?)

 

 

if I was a hacker/dealer/terrorist/whatever then I'd have nothing to be concerned about (it's not the guilty who've anything to fear nowadays)

come to think of it I should've been a hacker :/

 

on the other hand I don't like the idea of my pc being turned into a zombie or spam relay or something because of crap ME & its vulnerabilities

or Intel themselves using ME to steal my personal info then selling it to their commercial partners

 

If you can get your router to output that data, yes, you'd need ddwrt or something though.

 

If you don't want to be part of a botnet, install updates.

[7point5]

If you don't want to be part of a botnet, install updates.

is there a way of knowing which updates have telemetry & which ones don't? (and a way to block it)

[Arthur]

is there a way of knowing which updates have telemetry & which ones don't? (and a way to block it)

Being cumulative, they all do now.

 

The easiest way to block the telemetry is to setup Pi-hole together with a block list like the one from WindowsSpyBlocker

 

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/crazy-max/WindowsSpyBlocker/master/data/hosts/win10/spy.txt

 

The reason you have to do it at the DNS level is because Windows ignores the HOSTS file for certain Microsoft domains.