Get your tin foil hats out....

[kellys_eye]

Zerohedge is reporting on a fall in Intel share price due to a 'flaw' in their latest processor core that can be exploited to gain access to stored passwords.

https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2018...cilitates-hacking-amd-surges#comment-10939045

You don't have to don the metaphorical tin foil hat to wonder why a processor would have this facility built-in, let alone 'compromised' nor do you need to read the comments below the article to have some sense of agreement with them.

So, if we are to believe that processor fabrication could (potentially) include 'back doors' to sensitive stored data on the equipment fitted with such i.e. your own PC, does anyone know when this process could have begun i.e. which processor type range was the first to include it?

Makes me want to build a browser that employs a 6502 and runs text-only......

 

[Harald Kapp]

Lacking an MMU your 6502 based computer would have this 'backdoor' inherently by design as no memory area is protected at all.

 

[kellys_eye]

Yeah, the 6502 suggestion was tongue-in-cheek but are we to understand that every device ever made will have some form of back door to nefarious peekers?

 

[shrtrnd]

I'll ramble, ....
I've been told that in the U.S., when somebody invents something, they try to get a patent on it. If it has potential for specific kinds of exploitation, the gov't classifies it.
They don't classify it because it's of significance to the gov't. They classify it so they can study how to counter it before it makes it to the marketplace. Somehow I think the U.S. has the resources to make that a world-wide situation(?)
If it's out there, despite what you hear in the media, ....people already know how to counter it.
Every once in a while somebody on the outside stumbles onto one of the ways in.
... there's ALWAYS a way in, or it doesn't make it to the commercial marketplace.
'Encryption' is a fools errand.
... end rambling.

 

[Harald Kapp]

More detail here: https://amp.thehackernews.com/thn/2...-vulnerability.html?__twitter_impression=true

 

[kellys_eye]

Seems like the tin foil hat association has more members than I reckoned on!

https://hackaday.com/2018/01/07/go-retro-to-build-a-spectre-and-meltdown-proof-x86-desktop/

 

[Harald Kapp]

Update: https://hackaday.com/2018/01/09/getting-a-handle-on-meltdown-update-impact-stay-tuned-for-spectre/

 

[Doug3004]

Seems like the tin foil hat association has more members than I reckoned on!

https://hackaday.com/2018/01/07/go-retro-to-build-a-spectre-and-meltdown-proof-x86-desktop/

People talked about building a retro-CPU setup for web browsing on several forums that I've seen.
The problem (that I see) is not the hardware, it's writing an effective web browser program that can support even simple HTML and javascript functionality. Unless you want something that can run PUBG decently--and then, there's really nothing...

As for the tinfoil, we're all wearing it these days...
Cell phone locations are effectively tracked just as a matter of network operation, and court cases have shown that the govt can get location data & listen in on the phones.
US court cases have also revealed that cars with satellite navigation systems can all be tracked now as well, and the emergency-assist feature can be used to eavesdrop on people in the car without their knowledge.

 

[AnalogKid]

They don't classify it because it's of significance to the gov't. They classify it so they can study how to counter it before it makes it to the marketplace.

They?

 

[shrtrnd]

They. The guys we wear the tin foil hats to protect ourselves from.

 

[Doug3004]

It's a trap, they make the tinfoil too....

 

[ChosunOne]

All those conspiracy theories are sheer bunk! The only real conspiracy is one that is overlooked: The perpetration of the bogus conspiracies by the tinfoil manufacturers, so they could market more of their product. And who, by the way, are so devious that they have substituted aluminum in place of genuine tin. [/satire]

 

[Doug3004]

This is kinda taking on a life of its own, but anyway...

https://tech.slashdot.org/story/18/01/27/0415238/car-manufacturers-are-tracking-millions-of-cars

Car companies have been doing this for some time now in the USA--offering wifi services inside the car. They even have special offers like "the first 6 months free" and then $10 a month or whatever. Or they sell you OnStar--which is nice in theory, but isn't really necessary.
They want to lure you into accepting SOME REASON to have internet service in your car--because they want YOU to pay for the data connection for them to track the car.

One story that has come out about this is that they use this when they make judgements on warranty repairs. They are going to flexible pricing on repair costs, and they obtain the use data to judge how much or how little (or how harshly) you have used the car.
So like...
....If your records indicate that you like to drive fast, they will charge you more for repairs to brakes and suspension than they otherwise would.
....If your records indicate that you have been towing a trailer, they will charge you more for transmission repairs than they otherwise would.

And also of course--they track anything you do online over that mobile wifi. Don't think for a moment that it is private. (there was something about that in all the fine print...)

Also if you stop making payments on the car, they use the GPS location to track down the car to repo it.
Some second-tier sellers will use the wifi connection to not only locate the car, but to disable it as well:
https://www.npr.org/sections/alltec...-car-wont-start-did-you-make-the-loan-payment
,,,,,,,
This is why if you drive through a lower-income neighborhood these days, you see a lot of newer $30K+ cars parked around. If the guy driving it misses a payment, the car dealer can find it literally within an hour. The repo happens not "when the loan company can find it", it's "whenever they decide to find it".... Some "hood" cars get re-sold 6-7 or more times now, and they make the dealer more money than the car was actually worth new.

Smart TVs have already been caught performing 24/7 audio monitoring:
https://www.cnet.com/news/samsungs-warning-our-smart-tvs-record-your-living-room-chatter/

And now--you have the home service things being sold--Amazon Alexa, Google Home. That outright admit that they monitor everything said within range. That is a benefit you see, it's a convenience they say....

Marketing will eat us all.

 

[FuZZ1L0G1C]

A friend who used to live near us was gifted a fancy Samsung dual-camera phone for Christmas. At first, she was thrilled with its functions, but then became paranoid about the front video-call / selfie camera, as anybody could 'spy on her', so she stuck a square of black insulation tape over the lens.
I showed her how to disable the front camera in settings, but she later sold it, telling people it 'got stolen'.
Where I live, it's mostly criminal syndicates who use surveillance devices to track potential 'marks' for car-hijackings or planned burglaries.
....... I think my Hoover Aquavac winked at me .....

 

[FuZZ1L0G1C]

For those wanting to (try) block cell-phone RF, this thread on MyBB has hints.
https://mybroadband.co.za/news/security/246357-putting-a-smartphone-in-a-tinfoil-shoebox.html