Toggle sidebar Toggle sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Intel Active Management Technology (vPro) support for Apple?

kingtj said:
It's good to consider these types of scenarios, but it's a misplaced worry in this instance. The ability to remotely power on a PC is only available for a system that's still plugged into the wall outlet. If you had concerns, you could simply power off your machine via the switch on a power strip, effectively unplugging it.
Click to expand...

Not so fast. I have found that if you do that your batteries drain in six to 12 months instead of 4-6 years! Besides causing all sorts of failed cold booting. So, it is not that simple.
 
ChrisA said:
Sun Microsystems calls this feature "Lights Out Management", It is not quite the same thing but the same idea. Basically there is a very small computer on the main-board, maybe some little 4-bit thing that takes almost no power to run but a sys-admin can log into this little computer even when the main CPU(s) and disk drives are powered down or broken. He can run diagnostics on the machine and even re-load an operating system. and the best part is that he can do it all remotely. It looks like Intel has put this small process inside the ship set where it has access to the Ethernet controller. Smart move.

When I first got into computers almost ALL computrs had a small "ROM monitor" a very simple software that ran even if there was no disk or RAM on the computer. One command they all had was "boot" and you used that to boot the OS. The IBM PC was one of the first computers to skip this feature. I'd like to see it back. Makes hardware debugging very easy.
Click to expand...

Sounds nifty, do these come with the older Napa32 chipsets that ship with Yonah and the Apple's current Merom macs?
 
crees! said:
Hey now! Don't go volunteering me 😀
This subject went over my head as I haven't heard of this, but having to figure out and correct the grammer just to understand what the post is about.. THEN to figure out what the heck this thing is is a bit much.

Yea, I know. whaaaaa. 😛
Click to expand...
Nahh, I totally agree. More often then not I find spelling and grammar mistakes on Page 1. It makes deciphering the Rumor/news extremely difficult. 🙄

I still don't have the slightest clue what vPro is. It reminds me of Beck.
 
So the NSA can search your computer whenever they feel like it... just wonderful.... There are already security codes in your color printers to show what printer made a particular print. Now they can reach out and "touch" you. As can Apple, any hacker who breaks the system, etc.

Unplugging that network connection is sound advice.
 
Rocketman said:
It also would make it far easier for police to effectuate a search, even if secret or surprise.

They no longer need to SERVE you with a warrant to search. I disagree with that. They just do it and you never know unless you happen to be there or have technology to detect it. In some cases they are not even required to notify you at all the search was conducted!

Rocketman
Click to expand...

This is nonsense. You (and some others) are over reacting. This feature is not intended for this kind of purpose. Besides that, any one could break into a computer, if the computer is running software that has weak security. This new feature might bring new potential for hackers, but there are hundreds of new features and bugs introduced every year into software and hardware that bring new potential for hackers.

The suggestions you make are absurd. It is paranoia. You see these kind of reactions everywhere, it is some kind of hype. Unfortunately, too many people are prone to hypes.

Privacy is a serious matter, agreed. So let's stick to the facts and do the research before making false implications.
 
MacNeXT said:
This is nonsense. You (and some others) are over reacting. This feature is not intended for this kind of purpose. Besides that, any one could break into a computer, if the computer is running software that has weak security. This new feature might bring new potential for hackers, but there are hundreds of new features and bugs introduced every year into software and hardware that bring new potential for hackers.

The suggestions you make are absurd. It is paranoia. You see these kind of reactions everywhere, it is some kind of hype. Unfortunately, too many people are prone to hypes.

Privacy is a serious matter, agreed. So let's stick to the facts and do the research before making false implications.
Click to expand...

I would suggest that today's 'paranoid' is tomorrow's prophet. Have you been asleep to the abuse of power by our government? And, this is only what we know about. But, there are an equally large number of abuses by private organizations, and corporations, who will exploit any opportunity and/or vulnerability. Please do not suggest they operate from high moral ground.

The erosion of privacy rights is often accomplished by an evolutionary process. It is brilliant strategy, really. One just factors in how big a change can be made, with the highest acceptable level of controversy. Then each subsequent change virtually goes unnoticed by the general public.

However, as an IT manager, I can see administrative benefits of this technology as well. But, I would not knowingly install it without being able to have administrator's access to launch it.
 
I don't know where all these conspiracy theories are coming from.

vPro is aimed at companies to enable better management of their computers. It just allows the administrators to do their job (eg maintain software levels, diagnose and repair faults, inventory management) in a more efficient manner and allows them to access a computer that is connected to their network but turned off.

In theory at some point in the future, it could be used by say Apple or Microsoft to push software patches to home users computers or for the authorities to check what is on your computer. But it doesn't do that at present and I can't see it happening soon and without some major discussion due to the issues involved. Even if it did I'm sure you could turn the feature off.
 
Sounds like a fantastic addition to the ongoing breakdown of privacy.

Fewer and fewer things an individual does are truly private, while fewer and fewer things governments and large corporations do are subject to scrutiny.

Here's another gem from the register. The article's writer, it seems, thinks it's cool to have his/her home bugged by Google.

Google developing eavesdropping software

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/03/google_eavesdropping_software/
 
Don't fret

This technology has existed using PXE technology for some time and is invaluable in the corproate/edu environment for remote management, imaging and inventory. I haven't read the detailed tech brief, but all these technologies have always been limited to the same subnets (like wake-on-lan). The packets sent and received by these protocols aren't passed to/from the internet by routers.
 
@MacNemesis

ChrisA said:
Sun Microsystems calls this feature "Lights Out Management", It is not quite the same thing but the same idea. Basically there is a very small computer on the main-board, maybe some little 4-bit thing that takes almost no power to run but a sys-admin can log into this little computer even when the main CPU(s) and disk drives are powered down or broken. He can run diagnostics on the machine and even re-load an operating system. and the best part is that he can do it all remotely. It looks like Intel has put this small process inside the ship set where it has access to the Ethernet controller. Smart move.
Click to expand...
(Emphasis mine)

The balance between privacy and administrative convenience is always a delicate subject. If this technology can be immensely useful to schools, I'd consider it a good thing, but I agree with the ones concerned about their privacy. I do not trust political authorities blindly and I think it really is something we should at least seriously think about. A little bit of paranoia every now and then is probably the most effective way of making sure that Big Brother never appears (although it might be a bit late for that already). With GWB going on witch hunts all the time, I do not feel all that safe as a left-leaning Canadian who sometimes calls Iraqis "freedom fighters" instead of "terrorists". I do not personally fear for my own safety, but I can understand why some of the more politically-active people would.

I would think, though, that turning off the airport and unplugging the ethernet cable when you are not using the computer would solve the problems caused by this particular technology. Wouldn't it?
 
I don't think vPro will be a big problem, if you can turn it off in software, and if no external connection can manipulate its state.
 
bigwig said:
I don't think vPro will be a big problem, if you can turn it off in software, and if no external connection can manipulate its state.
Click to expand...

I think one of the features is that you can't turn it off via software.

arn
 
Arn--

Do you mean "I think one of the features is that you can't turn it off via software?" The extra "the" is a bit confusing!

Best,

Bob
 
Naimfan said:
Do you mean "I think one of the features is that you can't turn it off via software?" The extra "the" is a bit confusing!
Click to expand...

yes, edited.
 
DrFrankTM said:
@MacNemesis

(Emphasis mine)

The balance between privacy and administrative convenience is always a delicate subject. If this technology can be immensely useful to schools, I'd consider it a good thing, but I agree with the ones concerned about their privacy. I do not trust political authorities blindly and I think it really is something we should at least seriously think about. A little bit of paranoia every now and then is probably the most effective way of making sure that Big Brother never appears (although it might be a bit late for that already). With GWB going on witch hunts all the time, I do not feel all that safe as a left-leaning Canadian who sometimes calls Iraqis "freedom fighters" instead of "terrorists". I do not personally fear for my own safety, but I can understand why some of the more politically-active people would.

I would think, though, that turning off the airport and unplugging the ethernet cable when you are not using the computer would solve the problems caused by this particular technology. Wouldn't it?
Click to expand...

Maybe for your home. But, I have Offices in WA, OR, CA, HI and smaller installs through the US.
 
freebooter said:
Sounds like a fantastic addition to the ongoing breakdown of privacy.

Fewer and fewer things an individual does are truly private, while fewer and fewer things governments and large corporations do are subject to scrutiny.

Here's another gem from the register. The article's writer, it seems, thinks it's cool to have his/her home bugged by Google.

Google developing eavesdropping software

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/03/google_eavesdropping_software/
Click to expand...

I can see the day coming soon when Anti-Virus and Firewall providers will start providing solutions for blocking Google's intrusions.
 
iMeowbot said:
Many, many Ethernet chips already support this. The feature is already common in the PC world, just not on Macs.

The security implications for a machine using that are really no different from the existing, limited, wake-on-LAN in Macs.


It's worth it because users don't remember to pick sleep instead of shutdown.
Click to expand...

Who shuts down their computer? Especially office users. They just log out, which eventually sleeps.
 
bretm said:
Who shuts down their computer? Especially office users. They just log out, which eventually sleeps.
Click to expand...
I see that you've never worked in IT 🙂 Office workers are just like people, their actions are strange, unpredictable, irrational and inconsistent.
 
iMeowbot said:
I see that you've never worked in IT 🙂 Office workers are just like people, their actions are strange, unpredictable, irrational and inconsistent.
Click to expand...

someone once said, " i am like my operating system...".

incidentally, he uses window$.
 
Naimfan said:
I agree with Rocketman. I don't see the point for the overwhelming majority of home users, and the technology appears to me, from what I've gleaned about it, to be a step towards (the perhaps overused cliche) Big Brother. Part of the reason I have a Mac is precisely because it does not have, as far as I know, anything like the technology referenced.

Also, the technology is one more step down the infamous slippery slope--one more step to reduced privacy and the possibility of greater governmental intrusion into our lives. It makes individual rights, the cornerstone of the US legal system and society, less sacrosanct. Granted, this is not the only technology to do that--far from it--but it is depressing to read that Apple may consider using it. One of the things that I have always appreciated and respected about Apple is that as a corporation it really does seem to value the individual, whether as a consumer, employee, etc.

Best,

Bob
Click to expand...


WELL spoken! I wish I could speak so intelligently & eloguently. However I belive that Apple would be the one's at the reins and OR those with OS X Server would have access to such an implementation over a private or VPN+SSL network or remote access integration.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back