There’s an extremely powerful backdoor in every processor/chipset. Intel named it “Management Engine” and AMD “Secure Technology”.
From the Wikipedia page on Management Engine:
The ME has its own MAC and IP address for the out-of-band management interface, with direct access to the Ethernet controller; one portion of the Ethernet traffic is diverted to the ME even before reaching the host’s operating system.
ME has Serial over LAN, so it’s possible that it has a more intimate access to your hardware than your Operating System.
I imagine other manufacturers have similar frameworks.
surph_ninja@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Yeah, there have been various leaks over the years that trickle out. Supposedly they’ve banned companies from operating in the US for refusal to comply with backdoor demands (Hawei, Kaspersky), some reports of backdoors built right into both Intel & AMD processors, some vague stuff that’s come out about backdoors in Windows, etc. Even when the companies refuse to comply, there’s been reports of US intelligence going into factories or intercepting deliveries to install spy chips into hardware. I recall there was a local ISP provider somewhere in the mid-west that got shut down for refusing to install spy devices in their facilities.
Really a lot of this was confirmed as far back as Snowden. And plenty of whistleblowers and leaks since.