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Dell Ships Infected Motherboards
An anonymous reader writes "Computer maker Dell is warning that some of its server motherboards have been delivered to customers carrying an unwanted extra: computer malware. It could be confirmation that the 'hardware trojans' long posited by some security experts are indeed a real threat."
I have not studied computer science, firmware trojans nor antivirus. Could someone explain to me:
1) How do firmware trojans work?
2) Are they OS independent?
3) What information can they send and/or damage can they do to a system?
I call it 'The Aristocrats'
Just because you have a third party manufacture your hardware doesn't mean you shouldn't do your own QA. After all, it's your reputation on the line, not that of the nameless sweatshop contractor.
So, yeah, this is thoroughly Dell's fault for not caring about their brand or reputation.
Check out my world simulator thingy.
Incorrect. It's firmware, meaning it's software in a FLASH or EEPROM on rare occasions. That means it can be re-written by applications that know how to talk to it. Writing to a FLASH is not hard or a secret, in fact I wrote a self destruct years ago to screw with a kid that kept trying to break into our dial up server. It was called "Router Passwords.exe" and it simply tried to write FF FF FF to the beginning of the Bios flash chip for several different common motherboards.
it worked, the kid never tried to connect again after he downloaded that bomb.
If it was a ROM, my trick would not work as you can not update or write to ROM's.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
Is there even an option to purchase a "high quality" motherboard, or any computer components for that matter? Cheap mass-produced goods abound in many types of products, however there are usually options. I can buy a cheap Korean car or guitar, but I might choose not to, paying a premium for an item designed and assembled in Germany, the US, or even Japan. I realize that it's very expensive to produce electronics in the US, and environmental laws make it highly unlikely to happen here, but it seems there would be a strong niche market for "computerphile" goods given how damned cheap the mass produced junk is these days. I'd rather pay a premium for a high-quality home-produced video card based on last years model, then pay a premium for the "latest and greatest" mass produced piece of Chinese junk. Am I alone here?
No we haven't, and no they weren't forced.
Dell decided to produce cheaper, in order to compete on price. They could have decided to compete on, say, quality, service, security, or any other area. They didn't.
The "we the customer" meme should be shot on sight. It's from the 50s when we had something resembling free markets. Quick, how many major computer hardware manufacturers are there? So what are your choices, really? What are the choices of the general public, who know very little about computers or what goes into them?
There's no such thing as customer decision. If at all, there is customer choice, among the products that are offered. The people who decide what kinds of products are available to be chosen from aren't the customers, it's some dudes in the marketing and product management departments.
Don't make it too easy for them to avoid the blame. Nobody forced them to outsource to China. They decided to do it, because it would improve their bottom line. There are some - not many, but they exist - companies who made a different choice. Just because everyone else does it does not mean you have to do it - it just gives a manager with little interest beyond his yearly bonus a very easy excuse.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
That's a myth - the biggest reason companies outsource manufacturing to 3rd world countries is a greater return on profit. Instead of making 150 dollars per machine you might make 20 or 30.
Good example of this - up until very recently Dell's corporate desktops (Optiplex line - in fact I'm typing this on a 745 that has a "Assembled in the USA" sticker on it) were made right here in the USA, and didn't cost all that much more than Vostro machines which are made in China. These are rock solid machines (haven't had to replace a single major component on any one of the 200 or so I'm responsible for).
My brother used to work for an importer of Chinese goods (pens/no name tv's [I see them at fry's all the time]/toys) you wouldn't believe the markup some of these goods have. Pens that sell for a dollar for instance they were buying for as little as 5 cents. 5 cents - think about how far they traveled, and how much effort it takes to make a ballpoint pen than you can make 95 cents profit off of. A lot of these 5 cent pens were toys on the side as well (light up, or have an etch-a-sketch attachment on the end - stuff like that) that sold for 2-3 dollars.