Re:Intel to introduce processor with remote kill switch
by Groxx on Friday December 17, 2010 @08:17PM
(#2018566)
It's mature enough that it's known there cannot be a "robust" system like you seem to be hoping for.
At some point down the chain, you trust someone else with your computer's off switch. If they give it away/sell it/have it stolen, a stronger system merely means you're more assuredly screwed because there's less they can do to prevent it from working as advertised.
And this is all aside from cryptographic weaknesses. Sure, there are strong / robust systems, but at some point the ultimate authority lies somewhere, somehow, and it can be taken. Even something like BitCoin, a nigh-authority-free system, is vulnerable to this; if enough malicious computers perform enough malicious calculations, they can convince everyone that their transaction history is the correct history. Or a virus could do their work for them.
At some point down the chain, you trust someone else with your computer's off switch. If they give it away/sell it/have it stolen, a stronger system merely means you're more assuredly screwed because there's less they can do to prevent it from working as advertised.
And this is all aside from cryptographic weaknesses. Sure, there are strong / robust systems, but at some point the ultimate authority lies somewhere, somehow, and it can be taken. Even something like BitCoin, a nigh-authority-free system, is vulnerable to this; if enough malicious computers perform enough malicious calculations, they can convince everyone that their transaction history is the correct history. Or a virus could do their work for them.