Google Working To Remove MINIX-Based Management Engine From Intel Platforms

[Guest]

At the Embedded Linux Conference, a Google engineer named Ronald Minnich revealed that the ME is actually running its own entire MINIX OS and that Google is working on removing it.

Google Working To Remove MINIX-Based Management Engine From Intel Platforms : Read more

 

[sadsteve]

Um, MINIX is not a version of Linux. MINIX is based upon a microkernel architecture where Linux is based upon a monolithic kernel architecture.

 

[rbanffy]

Can you fix that "the barebones Linux OS is the most widely deployed operating system in the world" part? MINIX and Linux are completely different beasts.

 

[Rob1C]

More info about Minix on Intel CPUs is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology#Hardware - The whole Webpage is a good read along with Wikipedia's Minix entry.

 

[hoofhearted]

This is already a thing:
https://www.blackhat.com/eu-17/briefings/schedule/#how-to-hack-a-turned-off-computer-or-running-unsigned-code-in-intel-management-engine-8668

 

[ticamai]

It's wrong to say that this makes MINIX the most widely deployed OS - MINIX has only been used in the ME since the Skylake architecture, circa 2015. Before that, other solutions were used, notably including a real-time operating system called ThreadX. Many of these earlier revisions were much easier to remove or disable than the current MINIX-based ME, though.

 

[krueger.industrial]

MINIX was originally created for educational purposes and loosely patterned after UNIX. The name is an acronym for "Mini Unix".

When Linus Torvald first created Linux much of the design of Linux was patterned after MINIX. The name Linux is an acronym for "Linus' MINIX".

 

[ObamasBFF]

More info about Minix on Intel CPUs is here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Active_Management_Technology#Hardware - The whole Webpage is a good read along with Wikipedia's Minix entry.

Wow a link to Wikipedia - thanks for adding that, I'm sure no one would have thought to google this and look at the first return.

 

[jacksmith21006]

Good on Google to do this. But honestly MS should be taking the lead on these types of things and making us more secure.

I saw at Pawned 2017 MS Edge was basically hacked at will. Penetrated over and over again. While Chrome was the only browser unhackable in the time allotted.

 

[grumpigeek]

It is probably a back door for the NSA.