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Vulnerability with Intel Chip is Worse than Originally Thought

May 9, 2017

A lot of publications are reporting on Intel's announcement that a discovered vulnerability is worse than originally thought. The bug affects Intel's Active Management Technology (AMT) which allows IT admins to remotely carry out maintenance. The attack allows hackers to gain admin privileges without a password via a browser interface. Basically, if your machine is equipped with vPro and AMT features enabled, you are at risk, primarily with business machines. An Intel spokesman stated "Consumer PCs are not impacted by this vulnerability. We are not aware of any exploitation of this vulnerability. We have implemented and validated a firmware update to address the problem, and we are cooperating with equipment manufacturers to make it available to end-users as soon as possible." Intel has released a tool to see if your system is impacted. Once you unzip the download file, go to the Windows directory to execute the console.

Many systems manufactured by Dell, HP, Lenovo and Fujitsu are impacted. It is expected that fixes for the vulnerability will be available within the week. Let's hope so.

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