Operating Systems in Chips vs. Secure, Auditable OSes
a day ago
- #FirmwareThreats
- #Purism
- #HardwareSecurity
- Intel and AMD processors contain hidden subsystems like Intel ME and AMD PSP, operating below the OS with privileged access.
- These subsystems can bypass traditional security measures like antivirus and encryption, posing a stealth threat.
- Security vulnerabilities (e.g., Intel-SA-00086) have shown attackers can exploit ME undetected for years.
- Nation-state actors (e.g., NSA, Chinese APTs) use firmware-level attacks for persistent surveillance.
- Firmware attacks leave no logs and cannot be stopped by standard software updates.
- Purism disables or neutralizes ME/PSP where possible, prioritizing transparency and open development.
- Purism advocates for industry reform against secrecy in computing hardware.
- Purism offers secure devices like Librem Key, Liberty Phone, and Librem laptops.