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I'm curious to know if using a different firmware would be a valid way to secure a (potentially compromised) router, or is this kind of tampering done at the ha
by backwardm 12y ago
I'm curious to know if using a different firmware would be a valid way to secure a (potentially compromised) router, or is this kind of tampering done at the hardware level—in some hidden part of a microprocessor?
- osivertsson 12y agoNSA and company probably do it all levels, but any level below the OS is probably preferable because it is less risk of being caught. Who would you know if they targeted only you with a microcode update for your Intel/AMD CPU that made crypto weaker? All the assembler instructions that you execute are just the same as someone with a proper microcode blob.
- mschuster91 12y agoucode blobs are usually signed with strong crypto (RSA-2048 on Intel iirc), so unless the NSA doesn't get the keys or the raw transistor layouts of the CPU in order to look for bugs, no way to mess with the bytecode.
- osivertsson 12y agoI'm paranoid enough to assume they have both the keys and the layout.
- Zikes 12y agoI'm curious about this as well. It's hard to imagine it's just software, as the router firmware could be validated against the manufacturer's own available on web sites. It could similarly be circumvented via a manufacturer software update (or open source alternative). On the other hand, swapping out hardware en masse could get expensive, but the NSA has probably spent more for less.
- lawnchair_larry 12y agoMost of their catalog boasts things like "survives firmware upgrades" in the features list.