Re:Uncorrectable freedom and security issues on x86 platform...
by nickpsecurity on Friday March 03, 2017 @06:39PM
(#13787962)
Nah, that wasn't the purpose unless Im misremembering. It came later as a selling point. It started in initiatives such as Trusted Computing Group where these companies agreed on technologies to control what runs on the PC for security and DRM purposes. Featured regular, secret meetings on top of the public ones.They took lots of flak when DRM goals got press attention. That they're just helping companies manage stuff or users fix computers sounds much more pleasant. They also made sure it was true by adding those features. ;)
That is the end-result, yes, but that wasn't the purpose: the purpose was to allow companies to keep track of their laptops--to remotely push out firmware updates, to inventory the hardware/asset list, etc. It was a convenience feature, essentially.
Of course, the end-result, as stated, is that you've got a complete black-box second processor that can do whatever it wants, even when your device is off.