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A comment on Debugging mechanism in Intel CPUs allows seizing control via USB port. Parent comment

Re:Debugging mechanism in Intel CPUs allows seizing control ... by MrBuddyCasino on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @01:26AM (#13363083)
Ok, a special cable as a security measure is just sad. Didn't they learn anything from the Firewire DMA issues? Intel could at least have made it so that you have to enable the "Debug Accessory Mode" via BIOS (or whatever is booting your PC these days).

Edit: whoops just saw your reply that it can indeed be disabled, and that its enabled by default

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Re:Debugging mechanism in Intel CPUs allows seizing control ... by mikeash on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @09:56AM (#13365204)
Regarding your edit, that seems even worse. They recognized the potential for trouble, put in the effort to make it configurable, and then left it on by default?
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Re:Debugging mechanism in Intel CPUs allows seizing control ... by Animats on Tuesday January 10, 2017 @07:06PM (#13370550)
The idea may have been that it's for corporate customers who buy in bulk, who may either want the maintenance capability, or will disable it entirely during their commissioning process.
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