For years there have been reports Intel CPU's have built in access at government request, True or False?

Question

This idea really bothers me because if true and DOD and DOJ can do it even if they have to have a manual any computer literate 6th grader should be able to play havoc with any system so equipt.

Answer 1

If such a thing was true, it would require the cooperation of Intel, Microsoft, and all Internet Service Providers. And probably AMD, Apple, and the makers of all Linux distros.

If all those people managed to cooperate on something like that without revealing the secret, I doubt you'll uncover the plot in Yahoo Answers.

edit, in reply to kohl69varton's emailed comment:
Intel added serial numbers to the Pentium III, then disabled it by default under pressure from privacy groups. They might still do that, but that's just an ID code, it would give them less information than Facebook's beacon. If anyone enables it, which I doubt.

If there was a non-secret (publicly-discussed) plan to give the U.S. government a backdoor to control computers, I think OTHER governments would be very angry about all the backdoored computers sold to their citizens, companies, and government agencies.

Answer 2

Yes, Intel built in a chip identifier at government request. They said that they had stopped doing it for a while but they are still putting the hardcode in all their processors. AMD does but they offer the user the option of disabling it unlike Intel that has hidden the identifier again. For more info on this try Googling it with these words : processor, identifier, code

EDIT
I first watched the news stories on this in 1999 when it first became public and have kept up with this since then. It caused quite an embarrassment to Intel at that time and that is when AMD started releasing the software to disable theirs. Any of the Tech News Sites will have the back info you need or new breaking info.

EDIT
To DW Actually Germany , France and Great Britain also asked for that back door. There is a debate going in Germany right now because the government is trying to get a law saying they can put software on peoples computer without their knowledge. Try to keep up with the Tech news before posting on something like this.

Answer 3

AMD says if you ditch "big brother intel" for them, youll get a free tinfoil hat with every motherboard/processor upgrade

Answer 4

Careful... the sky is falling!