"The tactics drew widespread attention starting in 2013, when Snowden leaked documents referencing these practices."
So this is what Snowden has done: he "drew widespread attention to these tactics". Before Snowden they would call you "paranoid" if you would allow yourself to mention it. Today they can not call you paranoid anymore.
And yes, it has hurt US industry reputation. Many don't trust Intel processors and Cisco routers anymore (among other products). They actually destroyed computers and internet as we knew them in the 1990'ies. It is not fun anymore to own a computer or a phone if you know that NSA can get access to it anytime they want... and you will never know if they accessed it...
It has always been true that any computer connected to the internet could be accessed by an unauthorized party, even before the leaks. Disconnect from the internet and nobody is getting in, including the NSA.
> Disconnect from the internet and nobody is getting in, including the NSA.
Oh boy. That's some serious delusion in 2020. Wireless cards and higher end network interface cards are independent computers. Your processor has another processor (Intel ME and others) in it. Baseband Management Controllers are also independent computers on their own right.
With closed firmware and wireless capabilities, you can never know what they're doing at a given time.
Stuxnet reached systems which were seriously air gapped. Consider a what a laptop with a witty wireless card firmware can do.
I'm not getting into TEMPEST attacks and their newer versions, passive surveillance, etc.
I've listened tales about Cisco devices which were configured to isolate and prevent internet traffic but, they mistakenly forgot to drop some magic packets. Uh.
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Random facts about this stuff:
- Your Intel system runs a special version of Minix on its Management Engine. A version of Minix customized for Intel by its original developer.
- There are photos of Cisco devices which were delightfully enchanced by NSA before shipping to its customer via special firmware and/or hardware. NSA still retains this capability.
> - Your Intel system runs a special version of Minix on its Management Engine. A version of Minix customized for Intel by its original developer
Not on all systems. It's neutralized and disabled on my Librem 15: https://puri.sm/learn/intel-me/.
Please stop posting this disinformation.
How is this disinformation? The Intel ME is replaced with zeroes, except a few percent: https://puri.sm/posts/neutralizing-intel-management-engine-o..., and it’s hardly functional.
The Intel ME is a circuit, not a software program. You can't "overwrite" it. And the HAP bit doesn't do what you think it does: