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From what I understand pretty much all Intel CPUs produced since Sandy-Bridge have "secret" 3G capabilities in their IME (Intel Management Engine). This IME has full access to the memory bus and pretty much your whole computer and there is no way to see or block it from your OS.

That sounds incredibly scary to me, as I have literally no way of knowing if my data is being leaked or if malicious code is injected into my system. I mean I can't even be sure to be safe by unplugging my Ethernet cable.

Is it possible that Intel got an NSL and has been forced to implement a backdoor for the NSA? How likely does it seem that Intel is abusing this? Can we disable the 3G connection?

Forivin
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    If you wish to avoid IME and other closed source binary blobs on your computer you need to stick to computers like the Librem Laptops (see https://puri.sm/ for their blog posts on removing these binary blobs). As to the possibility that all/many recent laptops send data over 3G to some institution - that it likely infeasible even for a big institution. – Ned64 Mar 31 '17 at 13:12
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    The whole idea sounds silly. Can you even fit an antenna in a CPU, and make it work despite the huge noise? And how could an emitting radio chip be secret — if someone can receive the signal, then the signal can be detected! – Gilles 'SO- stop being evil' Apr 01 '17 at 02:06
  • Just because Intel owns 3G IP does not mean they hide it in all their CPUs and chipsets just to enable spying on people. This is unfounded paranoia , especially when 3G enabled laptops exist and are clearly marked-up for that feature. – flakeshake Apr 02 '17 at 09:52
  • I think you are referring to Intel's vPro chipsets. Yes what you are saying is true of them but there is so something that they need to do to activate it and it. And be done remotely. Also I am pretty sure they will need to be business class not consumers. This is known as a TPM module include with vPro. – Padriag O Cuinn Jun 01 '17 at 23:46
  • @flakeshake Just because Microsoft _could_ embed a keylogger into Windows that sends all your keystrokes to them, doesn't mean they're doing it. Just because your ISP, Facebook, Google etc _could_ get an NSL forcing them to give the NSA all your data, doesn't mean that this is happening. Just because your smartphones antennas _could_ still be active even when airplane mode is enabled, doesn't mean that this is the case. Oh wait. - Paranoia? Nope. ... And btw @ Gilles I've seen the weirdest PCB antennas. I wouldn't be surprised if the chip could use a trace on the motherboard for this. – Forivin Jun 02 '17 at 08:17

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First thing, first: You'll want to invest in yet another Ethernet NIC adapter for your fancy Intel motherboard in which to replace your onboard Ethernet device with.

Most Ethernet NIC do not have IME. This takes care of your biggest security fear, as long as you do not plug anything to that onboard Ethernet port.

John Greene
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