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Topic: Possible hardware backdoors (Read 606 times)

legendary
Activity: 2870
Merit: 7490
Crypto Swap Exchange
July 23, 2023, 04:13:16 AM
#48
Some linux distro (such as Debian) works fine with old PC though.
It depends. Depending on how old and how good the machine was at the time, you can get Debian running on it. Choose the right architecture here: https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current/

In my personal experience though, sometimes latest versions of packages are not available for 32-bit CPUs, for instance. You will then need to try compiling them yourself. Only to run into issues with your toolchain being updated and so on (you get the idea). Sometimes compilation needs several GB of RAM which you may not have. Just to name a few problems with reeeeally old hardware.

Indeed it's tricky when you use 32-bit CPU, especially when there are very few 64-bit Intel CPU without Intel ME. Although both Electrum[1] and Bitcoin Core[2] available on Debian repsitory which prevent some headache.

[1] https://packages.debian.org/bookworm/python3-electrum
[2] https://packages.debian.org/sid/bitcoin-qt
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 5834
not your keys, not your coins!
July 22, 2023, 12:03:28 PM
#45
Hi n0nce
Please, forgive for the question but I'm a bit newbie at this.
Can you name some hardware wallets that are made with both open source software and hardware?
No need to apologize! @dkbit98 maintains a list of open source hardware wallets, with extra notes regarding hardware and reproducibility: [L​I​ST] Open Source Hardware Wallets

As of right now, due to latest changes (September 2022) at Trezor, I would only recommend Foundation Passport; find my (obviously independent, unpaid) honest reviews here:
​​​
To avoid doubts, better use an old computer or a hardware wallet (made with open source software and hardware) Wink
You will be much better off with an open-source, open hardware, airgapped hardware wallet.
I can't believe that nobody is really criticizing this 'old computer' idea. Your 15-16 year old PC will most likely run outdated OS and / or packages, which are much more likely to be exploited than bugs in the CPU.
Some linux distro (such as Debian) works fine with old PC though.
It depends. Depending on how old and how good the machine was at the time, you can get Debian running on it. Choose the right architecture here: https://cdimage.debian.org/cdimage/release/current/

In my personal experience though, sometimes latest versions of packages are not available for 32-bit CPUs, for instance. You will then need to try compiling them yourself. Only to run into issues with your toolchain being updated and so on (you get the idea). Sometimes compilation needs several GB of RAM which you may not have. Just to name a few problems with reeeeally old hardware.

Every case is very individual. If you live in third countries, in small cities or towns, or in poor villages, you can definitely feel very safe in terms of spying.
It is quite unlikely that anyone here is specifically targeted by 'individual' spying; most of it takes place as mass surveillance. Mass surveillance (as the word implies) targets everyone, no matter where you are located.

I'm really afraid that when I buy a very expensive CPU, it may come with another surprise. What if every CPU since 2012 comes with secret nano microphone that doesn't need internet and uses radio frequencies to transmit data? Does it sound sci-fi? Probably, but doesn't mean that I am crazy and out of mind. There is a possibility that what I said is a real threat.
But it's my personal opinion that old CPUs can be safer.
It can be your opinion, but it makes little sense. Although the possibility you keep bringing up can exist, the possibility of an old chip being vulnerable is actually much higher. As mentioned before; outdated OS, outdated kernel, outdated packages, weak PRNG, are just a few known vulnerabilities. Meanwhile the threats you think of are purely hypothetical.
Furthermore, stuff like hidden microphones inside the CPU package would be spotted by anyone opening it up and creating die shots. Which is usually done right after release by some PC enthusiasts every single year.
hero member
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July 22, 2023, 08:02:47 AM
#44
Given the current technical possibilities for surveillence, I think IF a powerful organisation or government does want to spy on someone or a company, they have plenty of tools available.
One tech that comes to mind, which seemed pretty mind boggling to me at the time (already a few years old), is a special video-analyzing software that can be used to analize micro-vibrations on surfaces of objects to reconstruct the sound emitted to create these vibrations.
I guess it depends on the quality of the video, however as technology advances these limitations will also be less and less of an obstacle.
Every case is very individual. If you live in third countries, in small cities or towns, or in poor villages, you can definitely feel very safe in terms of spying. It's very individual, if one knows the undeveloped/developing country well, he/she can manage the situation very well. There are countries where police isn't advanced, lacks knowledge, equipment and athletism and so on.

However, to the best of my knowledge, officially backdoored CPUs don't have (enough) persistent, read- and writeable storage on die to allow for such an attack. Furthermore, anyone with the amount of resources to set up such an attack, usually aims for other goals than stealing some BTC.

If you want to be extra paranoid though, just unplug any other secondary storage before booting Tails and fully turn off the device after creating the seed and remove all power (to flush dynamic memories).
For the maximum level of paranoia, simply never reconnect the hardware to the internet, at all. Keep it as a forever-offline signing-only Tails PC.

To avoid doubts, better use an old computer or a hardware wallet (made with open source software and hardware) Wink
You will be much better off with an open-source, open hardware, airgapped hardware wallet.
I can't believe that nobody is really criticizing this 'old computer' idea. Your 15-16 year old PC will most likely run outdated OS and / or packages, which are much more likely to be exploited than bugs in the CPU.
It's a very different what's official and what's unofficial. I'm really afraid that when I buy a very expensive CPU, it may come with another surprise. What if every CPU since 2012 comes with secret nano microphone that doesn't need internet and uses radio frequencies to transmit data? Does it sound sci-fi? Probably, but doesn't mean that I am crazy and out of mind. There is a possibility that what I said is a real threat.
But it's my personal opinion that old CPUs can be safer. The reason why I think so is that there was a time in technology that the development was more important than spying. Now, things are pretty developed and monetized, it's time to make some powerful things more affordable, spy on people and control them.

I think we need to group together and find a way to stop the governments from doing this to us. They cannot be allowed to permit such spying to be possible in the first place. Laws are supposed to protect our freedoms, not exploit them.

Although I also think that private companies would not want to miss out on customers, if they make such devious devices in the first place. Perhaps the free market will take care of the problem?
You can't imagine how many people like the idea of everything being controlled by the government. There are a lot of people who like the idea of government controlling your messages, transactions, your footsteps, etc. You can't make an independent person out of slave.



For maximum individual cyber security, you have to do a big research and choose a different country to live in. You have to choose a specific country, specific city, specific street, specific neighborhood, change your personality and openness, absolutely everything matters.
legendary
Activity: 3500
Merit: 6320
Crypto Swap Exchange
July 22, 2023, 06:07:15 AM
#43
Oops: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/critical-ami-megarac-bugs-can-let-hackers-brick-vulnerable-servers/
Quote
Furthermore, the two MegaRAC BMC firmware vulnerabilities disclosed today can be chained with the ones mentioned above.

Specifically, CVE-2022-40258, which involves weak password hashes for Redfish & API, could help attackers crack the administrator passwords for the admin accounts on the BMC chip, making the attack even more straightforward.

Although not 100% related to this, since I do not think most of us are running enterprise servers for ourselves. But, there are some higher end workstations that have the vulnerabilities. However, if you have the hadware management port on your home machine exposed to the internet, you already have other issues....

But still, makes you wonder how many hacks have happened to other places because they had servers like this with the out of band access not secured properly and people got in.

But, in reference to the OP this is not really a back door, just a front door with a really crappy lock on it.

-Dave
legendary
Activity: 2268
Merit: 18711
July 22, 2023, 03:39:06 AM
#42
Your 15-16 year old PC will most likely run outdated OS and / or packages, which are much more likely to be exploited than bugs in the CPU.
The number of bugs which have been discovered in older PRNGs alone makes me never want to do this.

Can you name some hardware wallets that are made with both open source software and hardware?
Passport - https://foundationdevices.com/

They cannot be allowed to permit such spying to be possible in the first place. Laws are supposed to protect our freedoms, not exploit them.
I admire your optimism, but none of that is true. Governments the world over are fully committed to mass surveillance via any and all means available to them. The information which has been leaked regarding these programs is shocking enough, but will be absolutely dwarfed by all the true scope of the surveillance.
legendary
Activity: 2226
Merit: 1971
A Bitcoiner chooses. A slave obeys.
July 21, 2023, 03:28:00 PM
#41
Hi all!

I've recently seen a video where a hacker holds a conversation about possible hardware backdoors in some pcs and other devices, mainly in the processor but also in more parts. Those backdoors would come with an OS preinstalled that could spy you.
If you are afraid of this, then how about taking your / friend / relative's old PC / laptop to generate a wallet and then use it? It is unlikely that hardware backdoors will be possible on older devices. The problem with the pre-installed OS on these devices is solved simply by reinstalling on a Linux distribution of your choice (You voice Tails OS).

That is, this way you will surely be safe by not buying new devices, in which backdoors can be pre-installed by manufacturers in the OS and hardware parts, such as the processor. Also, save on expensive purchases.


In this case I think that the worry lies in the fact that most people are not working with (or will not be working with- in the near future) PC's or other devices which are old and outdated. We live in a world where software as well as hardware is being constantly updated and renewed.

So your solution of using old devices is not a sustainable one for the future. Which, only goes to show how serious OP sees the problem to be, I would say.

I think we need to group together and find a way to stop the governments from doing this to us. They cannot be allowed to permit such spying to be possible in the first place. Laws are supposed to protect our freedoms, not exploit them.

Although I also think that private companies would not want to miss out on customers, if they make such devious devices in the first place. Perhaps the free market will take care of the problem?
jr. member
Activity: 43
Merit: 5
July 21, 2023, 03:15:04 PM
#40
You will be much better off with an open-source, open hardware, airgapped hardware wallet.
I can't believe that nobody is really criticizing this 'old computer' idea. Your 15-16 year old PC will most likely run outdated OS and / or packages, which are much more likely to be exploited than bugs in the CPU.

Hi n0nce

Please, forgive for the question but I'm a bit newbie at this.

Can you name some hardware wallets that are made with both open source software and hardware?
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 5834
not your keys, not your coins!
July 21, 2023, 12:25:02 PM
#39
Not something worth worrying about. If your machine is disconnected from the Internet, that's all you need to know. Network cable unplugged and Wi-Fi password not entered.
I believe one risk of hardware backdoors to be aware of is persistent storage; either secondary / mass storage or (if disconnected) theoretically even on-die. This could allow a 'hardware virus' to persistently store a seed phrase that has been created while the machine is booted in a secure, offline environment (e.g. Tails on USB) and then upload it to a server upon reboot into a regular network-attached operating system.

However, to the best of my knowledge, officially backdoored CPUs don't have (enough) persistent, read- and writeable storage on die to allow for such an attack. Furthermore, anyone with the amount of resources to set up such an attack, usually aims for other goals than stealing some BTC.

If you want to be extra paranoid though, just unplug any other secondary storage before booting Tails and fully turn off the device after creating the seed and remove all power (to flush dynamic memories).
For the maximum level of paranoia, simply never reconnect the hardware to the internet, at all. Keep it as a forever-offline signing-only Tails PC.

To avoid doubts, better use an old computer or a hardware wallet (made with open source software and hardware) Wink
You will be much better off with an open-source, open hardware, airgapped hardware wallet.
I can't believe that nobody is really criticizing this 'old computer' idea. Your 15-16 year old PC will most likely run outdated OS and / or packages, which are much more likely to be exploited than bugs in the CPU.
jr. member
Activity: 43
Merit: 5
July 20, 2023, 01:44:35 AM
#38
No wallet or OS is completely safe. Any wallet and pc can be compromised. Regarding the hardware backdoors, I totally believe they exist (we're livin g in the age of surveillance) but the question is if the manufacturers want your Bitcoin or something else?

Some may think this: if they can, they will.

To avoid doubts, better use an airgapped old computer or a hardware wallet (made with open source software and hardware) Wink
legendary
Activity: 2394
Merit: 1191
Privacy Servers. Since 2009.
July 19, 2023, 05:18:21 PM
#37
Hi all!

I've recently seen a video where a hacker holds a conversation about possible hardware backdoors in some pcs and other devices, mainly in the processor but also in more parts. Those backdoors would come with an OS preinstalled that could spy you.

My question is: if that is the case, how secure would be a wallet that you generate in those devices?

Would an electrum wallet that you generate with Tails OS and completely offline be safe?

thx!

No wallet or OS is completely safe. Any wallet and pc can be compromised. Regarding the hardware backdoors, I totally believe they exist (we're livin g in the age of surveillance) but the question is if the manufacturers want your Bitcoin or something else?
legendary
Activity: 2044
Merit: 1401
Disobey.
July 19, 2023, 03:29:25 PM
#36
Your CPU also has Intel ME though. If people really want to avoid Intel ME and AMD PSP, they need to use Intel CPU before 2008 or AMD CPU before 2013. So it's at least 16 years old PC for Intel and at least 11 years old PC for AMD.
Oh, didn't know about Intel ME and AMD PSP, sorry, a little bit young for that Cheesy

To be completely honest, my main concern is that there can be a spy microphone on modern complex equipment. Otherwise, if we air-gap old 2011's CPU, I think we can feel safe. Or in the worst case, build a special room and block radio waves in that area.
It worth to mention that air-gapping of your device is absolutely more than necessary if you don't hold thousands of bitcoins and aren't someone special.
Given the current technical possibilities for surveillence, I think IF a powerful organisation or government does want to spy on someone or a company, they have plenty of tools available.
One tech that comes to mind, which seemed pretty mind boggling to me at the time (already a few years old), is a special video-analyzing software that can be used to analize micro-vibrations on surfaces of objects to reconstruct the sound emitted to create these vibrations.
I guess it depends on the quality of the video, however as technology advances these limitations will also be less and less of an obstacle.
legendary
Activity: 3752
Merit: 2667
Evil beware: We have waffles!
July 17, 2023, 07:55:40 PM
#35
Your CPU also has Intel ME though. If people really want to avoid Intel ME and AMD PSP, they need to use Intel CPU before 2008 or AMD CPU before 2013. So it's at least 16 years old PC for Intel and at least 11 years old PC for AMD.
Oh, didn't know about Intel ME and AMD PSP, sorry, a little bit young for that Cheesy

To be completely honest, my main concern is that there can be a spy microphone on modern complex equipment. Otherwise, if we air-gap old 2011's CPU, I think we can feel safe. Or in the worst case, build a special room and block radio waves in that area.
It worth to mention that air-gapping of your device is absolutely more than necessary if you don't hold thousands of bitcoins and aren't someone special.
The Intel & AMD CPU's don't have ME or PSP 'in them' per se but they *do* have the IO microcode used by the ME/PSP System Management Engines hard wired into the chips. ME/PSP are part of the main motherboard IO controller chip with their own embedded CPU's (ME uses 1 Pentium and 3 486's) running their own micro-OS and as pointed out already since around 2011 the Intel & AMD CPU's require the core functionality of that chip to operate at all.

Now, it's nice that apparently the 'extra bits' outside of CPU/system initialization can be switched off but - it is a lot simpler to use a system with a different CPU. Like um, a RasPi 3B or higher that does NOT contain a System Management Engine like ME/PSP. Hell you can even hack their bootloader code or at least look at it if desired.

When I'm at the RasPi 3B system I use to run my Sidehack USB miner sticks I find browsing and other 'desktop' functions speed to be more than acceptable. It is really amazing how downright snappy an OS can be even on low performance (compared to a modern desktop/laptop) hardware like a RasPi when the OS is not doing a gazillion other things in the background...
hero member
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July 16, 2023, 07:32:26 AM
#34
Your CPU also has Intel ME though. If people really want to avoid Intel ME and AMD PSP, they need to use Intel CPU before 2008 or AMD CPU before 2013. So it's at least 16 years old PC for Intel and at least 11 years old PC for AMD.
Oh, didn't know about Intel ME and AMD PSP, sorry, a little bit young for that Cheesy

To be completely honest, my main concern is that there can be a spy microphone on modern complex equipment. Otherwise, if we air-gap old 2011's CPU, I think we can feel safe. Or in the worst case, build a special room and block radio waves in that area.
It worth to mention that air-gapping of your device is absolutely more than necessary if you don't hold thousands of bitcoins and aren't someone special.
hero member
Activity: 714
Merit: 1010
Crypto Swap Exchange
July 16, 2023, 06:46:22 AM
#33
If processor manufacturers are caught with a smoking gun to spy on computer user's activities via ME or AMD counterpart it would be like business suicide. I don't really believe this is happening, but I can't be sure because there's a lot of obscurity involved.

The thing that bugs me more are the intrinsic vulnerabilities that ME have and add to systems. No complex subsystem is free or errors and bugs. Issues with ME have been reported by security researchers in the past and very likely this will continue in the future. The security by obscurity around ME doesn't make security any better, it just hopes to hide things. Good luck with that!

If you're lucky you get a BIOS update which addresses found flaws in ME or AMD counterpart. How often are you lucky? Sigh...
hero member
Activity: 2114
Merit: 603
July 15, 2023, 11:19:23 PM
#32
You really wan to go down this rabbit hole, checkout just what Intel's Management Engine (ME) and AMD's version of it do https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine
It's access to system functions is so pervasive that the NSA required an 'off switch' to disable most of its functions for secure hardware... https://web.archive.org/web/20201201175708/http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html?m=1

Great, you just made me more scared of the technology and the computer from which I am making this post. Literally, I can imagine all the buttons I am pushing right now have an undetectable connection with the IME and every command is going through them. It means Intel knows every bit of me as I am living today.

I just read the document that is quoted by NotFuzzyWarm, and it's excellent explanation of IME can be watching you from their backdoors. If they can control our hardware then they can control anything at their end.

Is there any evidence that they can operate our machines via the internet and remotely without ever letting us know about it? If you read this then it kinda started to give the feeling of the rise of machines. Lolz

Quote
Intel Management Engine is a proprietary technology that consists of a microcontroller integrated into the Platform Controller Hub (PCH) chip and a set of built-in peripherals. The PCH carries almost all communication between the processor and external devices; therefore Intel ME has access to almost all data on the computer. The ability to execute third-party code on Intel ME would allow for a complete compromise of the platform.

The reality goes like this . . .

Quote
The disappointing fact is that on modern computers, it is impossible to completely disable ME. This is primarily due to the fact that this technology is responsible for initialization, power management, and launch of the main processor. Another complication lies in the fact that some data is hard-coded inside the PCH chip functioning as the southbridge on modern motherboards. The main method used by enthusiasts trying to disable ME is to remove everything "redundant" from the image while maintaining the computer's operability. But this is not so easy, because if built-in PCH code does not find ME modules in the flash memory or detects that they are damaged, the system will not start.
hero member
Activity: 882
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July 15, 2023, 06:52:53 AM
#31
--snip--
You need to block radio waves in that area.
--snip--

This part is overkill, unless you're very sure that you're specifically targeted by government or other group which could harm you.
Well, that's definitely overkill but I have seen questions where people were asking for that kind of security, one user was even looking for hardware wallet that would be impossible to be detected by modern and expensive metal detectors.

Computer without Intel ME (or AMD counterpart) is definitely older than 10 years though and not viable in long term. You might want to look for CPU which use RISC-V architecture instead. AFAIK Bitcoin Core and few Linux distro (such as Debian) already support RISC-V. Although take note device which use RISC-V CPU might still use closed-source hardware parts.
Long-term, that's definitely a problem. Btw, at the moment I have Intel Pentium G630 on my old computer, works absolutely fine. But I guess there were way better models available in 2011, so one can easily go with old PC for 5 years and more.
By the way, my approach is to always use as old hardware as possible to protect yourself from hardware backdoors. I just believe that years ago the real motive was to develop things, right now, the real motive is to control things.
legendary
Activity: 2870
Merit: 7490
Crypto Swap Exchange
July 15, 2023, 04:24:44 AM
#30
--snip--
You need to block radio waves in that area.
--snip--

This part is overkill, unless you're very sure that you're specifically targeted by government or other group which could harm you.

--snip--
Using old computers can be a good idea (always has been), as you and m2017 said. Nevertheless, I think we should support new open source hardware developments in order to have trustworthy computers in the future.

Thx all for the answers! Wink

Computer without Intel ME (or AMD counterpart) is definitely older than 10 years though and not viable in long term. You might want to look for CPU which use RISC-V architecture instead. AFAIK Bitcoin Core and few Linux distro (such as Debian) already support RISC-V. Although take note device which use RISC-V CPU might still use closed-source hardware parts.
jr. member
Activity: 43
Merit: 5
July 14, 2023, 06:30:33 AM
#29
Hi all!

I've recently seen a video where a hacker holds a conversation about possible hardware backdoors in some pcs and other devices, mainly in the processor but also in more parts. Those backdoors would come with an OS preinstalled that could spy you.

My question is: if that is the case, how secure would be a wallet that you generate in those devices?

Would an electrum wallet that you generate with Tails OS and completely offline be safe?

thx!
If your hardware, for example, CPU is backdoored, then you can do nothing other than to change it with another hardware. By the way, like you, I'm afraid there is a high chance that modern expensive PCs or Laptops may be backdoored, that's why I prefer to use old device for that purpose.
Along with the air-gapped device, you need to take care of the special environment where you plan to store that computer. You need to block radio waves in that area.
Also, everything depends on where you live. If you live in a country and in a neighborhood where people are in their 40s and don't know how to use tech and kids/teens around you are having fun and rarely know a thing about IT and coding and they only use pc for gaming or gambling, then you can feel more secure.

Using old computers can be a good idea (always has been), as you and m2017 said. Nevertheless, I think we should support new open source hardware developments in order to have trustworthy computers in the future.

Thx all for the answers! Wink
legendary
Activity: 1568
Merit: 6660
bitcoincleanup.com / bitmixlist.org
July 14, 2023, 06:03:18 AM
#28
You really wan to go down this rabbit hole, checkout just what Intel's Management Engine (ME) and AMD's version of it do https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Management_Engine
It's access to system functions is so pervasive that the NSA required an 'off switch' to disable most of its functions for secure hardware... https://web.archive.org/web/20201201175708/http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html?m=1

That's what I was referring to. If that exists (and it seems so), no matter the knowledge you have, or the OS or the encryption you use. They can know what you're doing.

Right now there are devices specifically made for Linux users, focused on privacy. They can be a good option as long as they don't use hardware made by big corporations to make their machines. It would be nice if someone can say that these devices are made using not only free open source software, but open source hardware.

Management Engine has been around for over 15 years... it's not going anywhere anytime soon.

The idea was for office administrators to be able to remotely turn on/off/diagnose computers (and specifically the processors) on the local LAN a la vPro or similar software, but nobody seems to use it now except for spies. Nobody that I know manages computers like that either, especially now that IPMI consoles are so prevalent now.
hero member
Activity: 882
Merit: 792
Watch Bitcoin Documentary - https://t.ly/v0Nim
July 14, 2023, 05:33:19 AM
#27
Hi all!

I've recently seen a video where a hacker holds a conversation about possible hardware backdoors in some pcs and other devices, mainly in the processor but also in more parts. Those backdoors would come with an OS preinstalled that could spy you.

My question is: if that is the case, how secure would be a wallet that you generate in those devices?

Would an electrum wallet that you generate with Tails OS and completely offline be safe?

thx!
If your hardware, for example, CPU is backdoored, then you can do nothing other than to change it with another hardware. By the way, like you, I'm afraid there is a high chance that modern expensive PCs or Laptops may be backdoored, that's why I prefer to use old device for that purpose.
Along with the air-gapped device, you need to take care of the special environment where you plan to store that computer. You need to block radio waves in that area.
Also, everything depends on where you live. If you live in a country and in a neighborhood where people are in their 40s and don't know how to use tech and kids/teens around you are having fun and rarely know a thing about IT and coding and they only use pc for gaming or gambling, then you can feel more secure.
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