Definitely not another Stuxnet, researchers claim as they demo industrial control rootkit

Security researchers have come up with another way to hack Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) at industrial plants. Ali Abbasi, a PhD student at the University of Twente, and Majid Hashemi, a research engineer at Quarkslab, have developed an attack that involves tweaking the PIN configuration of a system chip in order to …

[Anonymous Coward]

Definitel not another Stuxnet

The description of Stuxnet was comprehensible and plausible and credible and relevant.

This one, less so.

[chasil]

"Management Engines"

Another major problem with electronics security is the "management engine" found on Intel and ARM CPUs. Both architecutres bundle opaque processor controls that have unrestricted access to networking, memory, and i/o.

http://www.networkworld.com/article/3085494/security/intel-management-engines-security-through-obscurity-should-scare-the-out-of-you.html

It appears that the best "open" CPU architecture is the decade-old SPARC T2 - the full Verilog source for the CPU is provided, and there is no "management engine."

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/systems/opensparc/opensparc-t2-page-1446157.html

Unfortunately, no "Raspberry Pi" or otherwise reduced form-factor board is available on the market at this time. If you want to run a SPARC T2, you will likely have to purchase a used Netra server.

[Gotno iShit Wantno iShit]

Re: "Management Engines"

Old school is indeed the way forward. Simple CPU with nowhere for the TLAs to hide their code, programs stored in EPROM, serial port talking MODBUS to the SCADA and absolutely, positively definitely no networks.