Jump to content

Snowden Documentation: Your Motherboard Is Spying On You

FunkyFeatures
By FunkyFeatures
in Tech News
 Share
Go to solution Solved by colonel_mortis,

This is old news, and the article is not strictly accurate. Here is an article about the same news from two years ago (Jan 2014), which explains it much better and more truthfully: http://resources.infosecinstitute.com/close-look-nsa-monitor-catalog-server-hacking/

Notably:

  • It only affects a few specific models of server from OEMs
  • It requires physical access to the server, to flash the BIOS and install the vulnerability
  • It probably wouldn't work on newer servers due to additional security features of modern motherboards

The actual original source for the story posted here is http://chronicle.su/2014/08/17/snowden-unveils-nsa-god-mode-malware-that-lives-on-your-motherboard-and-can-not-be-traced/ (from August 2014). It has recently been copied by several other sites, despite no longer actually being news.

Posted

NSA at it again, or rather still at it. This time, your motherboard is monitoring everything that you are doing on your computer

 

snowden_wide-86b50d848d413f21e3a8cdc5292

Snowden Documentation Reveals That NSA Can Spy On You Through Your Motherboard’s BIOS – Lets Us Know How The Security Agency Is Able To Make This Work

According to a source, a vulnerability is able to infect the BIOS of the computer through its boot loader. Despite the fact that you might be tech-savvy, but even you will not be able to tell that the computer system has been infected with this vulnerability because since the only way to do it would require a keen eye, and a very expensive electron microscope. Still, inspecting the physical part of our motherboard with our naked eyes will be fruitless to come to a conclusion that the latest vulnerability has found its way to our computer system, so we will get right down to the relevant details. 

 

 

So, practically undetectable. In the next quote, we see that it is monitoring even OFFLINE activities too, has this gone too far? (I expect many yes's but my opinion will be at the bottom)

 

The source reveals that GODSURGE happens to be the name of the latest computer malware and it allows security personnel to monitor your activity, or more accurately, what exactly you happen to be doing on your machine. Security personnel will obviously not be able to monitor your activities while you are not connected to the internet, but as soon as you are connected to the World Wide Web, all the previous series of activities that took place while you were offline will easily be available to the authorities. Now, how is this any different from being spied upon from our mobile devices?

 

Since the vulnerability is found in our motherboard’s BIOS, we cannot remove it, unless of course you have the time to switch your motherboard and even then, there is no telling that GODSURGE would have infected the programming or not. Since the malware is not physically present on any portion of your storage paraphernalia, even if you erase every speck of data from your hard drive, the malware will not be removed and anti-virus programs will do little to help your cause.

 

 

"GODSURGE" - who even comes up with these names. If you asked me a year ago, I would be like "f*ck yeah freedom and Snowden", after a year I have pretty much just accepted this surveillance/spying on me.

What will be the next discovery of NSA spying, do you even care about it anymore? Do you think it will ever stop?
I personally think that this is a step too far, but in the end there is nothing we can do about it, the difference is only that we now know what is going on, maybe it has been doing this for quite a few years. I stopped caring personally. I have nothing to hide, if they want to know my fetish, sure go ahead, and I am almost certain it will never stop.

 

Do not misunderstand me, I certainly appreciate Snowden trying to save internet privacy, but I'd rather have lived in the dark, thinking I was safe (even though it doesn't affect me much)

 

Source: http://wccftech.com/snowden-docs-reveal-that-your-computers-motherboard-is-definitely-spying-on-you/ 

                      http://www.haktuts.in/2015/12/snowden-unveils-nsa-god-mode-malware-lives-on-motherboard.html?m=1 

CPU: I7 4790K(4.6@1.252v)                               Case: Fractal Design Define R5 Windowed(Black)           Cooler: CM 212 EVO + NF F12 iPPC

RAM: HyperX Fury 1600MHZ CL10 2x4GB      Storage: Samsung 850 EVO(250GB) + WD Red(2TB)      PSU: Corsair RM750 (and no, it hasn't blown up!)

MoBo: Asus Maximus VII Ranger                      Graphics: MSI GTX 970 TwinFrozr (1494MHZ Core)       OS: Windows 10 Enterprise

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

+1 paranoia. True or not, I'm still a little shaken.

 

Right, I'm packing up and moving to the middle of the desert with no technology or communication devices. Anyone wanna tag along?

Project White Lightning (My ITX Gaming PC): Core i5-4690K | CRYORIG H5 Ultimate | ASUS Maximus VII Impact | HyperX Savage 2x8GB DDR3 | Samsung 850 EVO 250GB | WD Black 1TB | Sapphire RX 480 8GB NITRO+ OC | Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX | Corsair AX760 | LG 29UM67 | CM Storm Quickfire Ultimate | Logitech G502 Proteus Spectrum | HyperX Cloud II | Logitech Z333

Benchmark Results: 3DMark Firestrike: 10,528 | SteamVR VR Ready (avg. quality 7.1) | VRMark 7,004 (VR Ready)

 

Other systems I've built:

Core i3-6100 | CM Hyper 212 EVO | MSI H110M ECO | Corsair Vengeance LPX 1x8GB DDR4  | ADATA SP550 120GB | Seagate 500GB | EVGA ACX 2.0 GTX 1050 Ti | Fractal Design Core 1500 | Corsair CX450M

Core i5-4590 | Intel Stock Cooler | Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI | HyperX Savage 2x4GB DDR3 | Seagate 500GB | Intel Integrated HD Graphics | Fractal Design Arc Mini R2 | be quiet! Pure Power L8 350W

 

I am not a professional. I am not an expert. I am just a smartass. Don't try and blame me if you break something when acting upon my advice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...why are you still reading this?

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

am i gonna get done for pirating games????

 

/s

RIG #1 : 4670k @4.4 / 1.25v vcore. @ 4.5 / 1.3v vcore/ 1.95v vccin. MSI GAMING 4G GTX 970 @1540/3700 1.275v BIOS MOD. 16GB Kingston HyperX Savage RAM 2400mhz. MSI GAMING 5 Z97 MOBO. Fractal Design Define S. Dark Rock Pro 3. 850 EVO 250GB Seasonic M12II 620w
RIG #2: 4790k @ 4.6 / 1.25v vcore. EVGA SC ACX 2.0 980 SLI. 16GB Corsair Vengeance Pro 2400mhz. Asus MAXIMUS VII Hero Z97. Fractal Design Define R5. NH D15. 850 EVO 250GB AX 860
Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Snowden can go rot to hell.

Guide: DSLR or Video camera?, Guide: Film/Photo makers' useful resources, Guide: Lenses, a quick primer

Nikon D4, Nikon D800E, Fuji X-E2, Canon G16, Gopro Hero 3+, iPhone 5s. Hasselblad 500C/M, Sony PXW-FS7

ICT Consultant, Photographer, Video producer, Scuba diver and underwater explorer, Nature & humanitarian documentary producer

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Snowden can go to hell.

 

What? Why? He hasn't done anything wrong, only exposing millions of classified documents about the US Spying EVERYONE.

My current build - Ever Changing.

Number 1 On LTT LGA 1150 CPU Cinebench R15

http://hwbot.org/users/TheGamingBarrel

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

What is the next thing to spy on me? My toothbrush?

 

No surprise here honestly. We know viruses can crawl into the uefi and biois, wasn't there some virus for OSX that did this?

Asus B85M-G / Intel i5-4670 / Sapphire 290X Tri-X / 16GB RAM (Corsair Value 1x8GB + Crucial 2x4GB) @1333MHz / Coolermaster B600 (600W) / Be Quiet! Silent Base 800 / Adata SP900 128GB SSD & WD Green 2TB & SG Barracuda 1TB / Dell AT-101W / Logitech G502 / Acer G226HQL & X-Star DP2710LED

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I'd like to see some proper proof of this. Because how would it store it? Where is the memory? the only thing I can see it store is my IP or something. Anything like microphone data or larger would show up in any simple network graph. 

"Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people."

Main rig:

i7-4790 - 24GB RAM - GTX 970 - Samsung 840 240GB Evo - 2x 2TB Seagate. - 4 monitors - G710+ - G600 - Zalman Z9U3

Other devices

Oneplus One 64GB Sandstone

Surface Pro 3 - i7 - 256Gb

Surface RT

Server:

SuperMicro something - Xeon e3 1220 V2 - 12GB RAM - 16TB of Seagates 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Oh great, they can infect my freakin' BIOS with undetectable malware that can monitor even my offline activities, but they can't figure out how to shut down ISIS's massive twitter presence.

 

069.jpg

      

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Snowden can go to hell.

lol what?

      

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

god damit. and i just left my cave of solitude. and now i find that it didnt help at all?!? wtf nsa. so now as far as i can tell i need to start using custom bios's and that might not even help. maybe i will redirect all traffic on my router going to microsoft and .gov websites back to myself.

CPU: I7 8700k @ 5ghz | Motherboard: Asus Z370-Prime | RAM: White Crucial balistix DDR4 2133mhz | GPU: GTX 1080TI | Storage: ssd HyperX 240gig, 2x2tb seagate Firecuda 1tb, BPX 480 gig nvme, 1tb sandisk ssd  | Cooling: Custom loop | PSU: Evga supernova 850w G2 | Case: Phanteks enthoo evolv atx black White modded | system theme: White/RGB/Weiss

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

maybe i will redirect all traffic on my router going to microsoft and .gov websites back to myself.

I'd be very surprised if the NSA's nefarious activities are going through .gov adrresses. Regarding Microsoft, I suggest watching Barnacules's recent video on how to stop Windows 10 from spying on you.

      

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

Oh great, they can infect my freakin' BIOS with undetectable malware that can monitor even my offline activities, but they can't figure out how to shut down ISIS's massive twitter presence.

At this point, I'm pretty sure they could, but they don't because if they actually ended the war in the middle east they wouldn't be able to justify all the military spending. Military industrial complex at work.

I am conducting some polls regarding your opinion of large technology companies. I would appreciate your response. 

Microsoft Apple Valve Google Facebook Oculus HTC AMD Intel Nvidia

I'm using this data to judge this site's biases so people can post in a more objective way.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

At this point, i don't even care.

 

I've become apathetic to 2 things.

 

Cancer-causing foods and the NSA spying on me.

Sadly, you're in the majority. If people would still actually get pissed about things, we wouldn't be having these problems.

      

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I would vote for snowden as president

 

Sadly, you're in the majority. If people would still actually get pissed about things, we wouldn't be having these problems.

Let's riot /jk (though only a little)

https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/ Tier Breakdown (My understanding)--1 Godly, 2 Great, 3 Good, 4 Average, 5 Meh, 6 Bad, 7 Awful

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

At this point, I'm pretty sure they could, but they don't because if they actually ended the war in the middle east they wouldn't be able to justify all the military spending. Military industrial complex at work.

True story. We need money out of politics, as long as these assholes can bribe politicians into giving them everything they want, this shit will never stop.

      

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

There are no spots for heroes in hell.

 

There's a spot reserved for him in the ninth circle, he can share those spots with Judas, Brutus and Cassius.

Guide: DSLR or Video camera?, Guide: Film/Photo makers' useful resources, Guide: Lenses, a quick primer

Nikon D4, Nikon D800E, Fuji X-E2, Canon G16, Gopro Hero 3+, iPhone 5s. Hasselblad 500C/M, Sony PXW-FS7

ICT Consultant, Photographer, Video producer, Scuba diver and underwater explorer, Nature & humanitarian documentary producer

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites
Posted

I would vote for snowden as president

 

Let's riot /jk (though only a little)

You used the word "riot" on the internet

 

...

 

 

...

 

 

...

 

...drone strike incoming

      

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share
Go to topic listing Tech News

×