Snowden leak: Cavium networking hardware may contain NSA backdoor

Re:Snowden leak: Cavium networking hardware may contain NSA ... by tromp on Tuesday September 19, 2023 @12:37PM (#37572495)

If I want to do some computation that should not be spied on, I can still program it in BASIC on my Sinclair ZX Spectrum. If it doesn't fit in its measly 48KB of RAM, I'm probably still safe programming it on my Commodore Amiga 500.

Basically, you can only trust things manufactured before "going online" became a thing.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Snowden leak: Cavium networking hardware may contain NSA ... by fallat on Tuesday September 19, 2023 @12:44PM (#37572587)

or you know, just don't connect your computer online.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Snowden leak: Cavium networking hardware may contain NSA ... by doublerabbit on Tuesday September 19, 2023 @12:50PM (#37572682)

And ensure it's not by any windows, the case HD LED doesn't blink nor does the FAN make any noise.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Snowden leak: Cavium networking hardware may contain NSA ... by TacticalCoder on Tuesday September 19, 2023 @01:30PM (#37573289)

Hardware and software backdoors does scale.

Data exfiltration through audio / fan speed / LEDs blinking / power draw / etc. simply doesn't.

I think that a discussion about metric shitloads of networking gear being compromised is not the place to make fun of the few that didn't compromise on security.

There's a place for offline/airgapped devices and private keys (PGP keys, seeds, whatever) being generated by throwing dice.

If anything all these backdoors do show that math/cryptography do work. The NSA's budget may be 100% of the US GDP, they still wouldn't be changing Sun's gravity or the math behind cryptography.

The joke today is on those who kept making fun of those who didn't trade security for convenience.

[ Parent | on HN ]

Re:Snowden leak: Cavium networking hardware may contain NSA ... by tromp on Tuesday September 19, 2023 @01:47PM (#37573508)

Both these computers were fan-less, like nearly all hobby computers at the time (clockspeeds were single digit Mhz). The Amiga only had a floppy disk drive.

[ Parent | on HN ]