Intel’s new processors have a secret CPU that can take over your PC against your will

Intel’s new x86 processors are hiding a dark secret.

The Intel Management Engine (ME) is a separate control subsystem located inside of the x86 chipset.

It effectively controls your CPU, acting as the hive-mind for all of your CPU’s day-to-day actions.

It runs completely independently (even when the main CPU is in a low-power mode) and is “capable of accessing any memory region without the main x86 CPU knowing about the existence of these accesses.”

“It also runs a TCP/IP server on your network interface and packets entering and leaving your machine on certain ports bypass any firewall running on your system.”

This makes it an invaluable tool, especially as it is not dependent on operating system or user input.

It also makes it a massive liability, as any unauthorised access (or rooting) of this ME could give complete control of your PC to malicious outsiders.

Worse still, as the user cannot access the ME themselves and there is no way to disable the subsystem, you may not even know if your CPU has been compromised.

“A large portion of ME’s security model is “security through obscurity”, a practice that many researchers view as the worst type of security,” reports boingboing.

“If ME’s secrets are compromised (and they will eventually be compromised by either researchers or malicious entities), then the entire ME security model will crumble, exposing every recent Intel system to the worst rootkits imaginable.”