Intel ME and AMD PSP: The silicon layer nobody certifies
About cloud sovereignty and the often-ignored and unknown on-CPU management engine running below the OS and BIOS.
The article is quite long; it explains how CPUs run firmware that can include remote management over the network, and can be running even when the OS is not. They can be vulnerable to supply chain attacks and firmware replacements. Because it’s on hardware, the firmware with open security vulnerabilities is often not updated.
Regarding cloud, the French SecNumCloud is a framework for cloud infrastructure security requirements. It doesn’t cover these hardware attack vectors specifically but may mitigate risks through surrounding practices and isolation.
In conclusion, even a cloud provider that meets SecNumCloud must be asked whether and how they manage CPU management engine attack vectors.
https://www.cs.umass.edu/~emery/classes/cmpsci691st/readings/Sec/Reflections-on-Trusting-Trust.pdf
The lower you go the harder it is to be able to identify security risks
Why the heck do we have such a technology in CPUs?
One usual use case is for IPMI-style server management, being able to remotely monitor and interact with the machine before even the BIOS is ready, so particularly more relevant to server deployments. For example, adjusting BIOS settings over a dedicated management LAN for several thousand rack servers
ok so it’s the classic compfort vs. security… kind of.
Good luck in trying to make a non-AMD or non-Intel x86 CPU. Maybe the chinese will find success in 10 years.
I dunno man, ARM and RISC-V are pretty dope.
It’d be nice if, say, ST would shit out a EU market RISC-V linux SoC akin to the CV1800B or SG2002 or BL808. But like, europe fabs.
Would need a ton of investment but at least ASML is also a European company.
Are there even any European companies that explore the usage of risc-v?
Damn, that’s interesting, just wished they tried harder.
We can’t all be Avis. (Orville references welcome.)
