Free Rootkit with Every New Intel Machine

[Jeff.Hodges at KingsMountain.com]

pgut001 at cs.auckland.ac.nz said:
> With TPMs it's a bit different, they're absent from the hardware by default

in case you're referring to the TCPA (trusted computing platform alliance) 
TPM..

my understanding from a person active in the NEA working group (IETF) is that 
TPMs these days "come along for free" because they're included on-die in at 
least one of said chips. I don't recall whether he said it was the network 
interface (NIC) and/or one of the others. So anyway, he said 
"...enterprise-class systems (eg Dell Latitudes) mostly all already contain, 
TPMs and various network gear manufacturers have boxes that speak to them 
already, and NEA is just trying to standardize the protocols..."

I've noticed my latitude systems do in fact have a bios option for 
enabling/disabling their TPMs. (mine are disabled)

the way in that IT depts ensure that vic...er...employees don't turn 'em off 
(as I understand it) is they set the BIOS admin password on their "assets" 
(computers) before their give them out.

=JeffH


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