[gentoo-user] [OT] Any thoughts on Intel Skylake SGX?

[Frank Steinmetzger]

Hello list

so I was about to treat myself to a new Thinkpad. After malware, backdoor
and BIOS rootkit stories at Lenovo’s (which to my knowledge were all
Windows-only problems) I already started looking elsewhere and even
considered bying a used model which existed before all this modern crap came
along, but always came back yet for lack of better alternatives.

Today the new Skylake lineup which I’ve been awaiting since January finally
appeared in the Lenovo online shop. Conincidentally also today¹, I found out
about the next thing since TPM, Secure Boot & Co: the SGX (Software Guard
Extension) instruction set which is part of all Skylake chips².

The way I understood it is that it can be used to create private areas in
memory that are inaccessible to any other program, even the operating
system. Since it’s based on cryptographic signatures and Intel being the
sole supplier of licences and signature keys, there are those who fear that
Intel will – over time – gain unparalleled control over what we can and
cannot run on our machines and that we will not be able to check what runs
on our systems anymore. (Well, such fears are not really new to begin with).


Infos are spare b/c it just hit the market a short wile ago, and I’m no
expert by far. Thus I seek guidance. With states and corporations sniffing
at our every step as they are already, can I – in your considered opinion –
still buy a Skylake device with good concience?

Am I seeing things too bleak in the context of constant attacks on open
systems which – when puzzled together – give a horrible picture of our
future in a society that doesn’t care as long as Facebook works?

Or don’t I have to worry about it because this will only play a role in the
walled gardens of contemporary commercial consuming interfaces (formerly
known as operating systems, AKA Windows) or servers?


Ew, I wanted to ask a simple question. Instead, I needed 30 minutes to write
half a short story. Sorry and thanks for your time.


¹ German news article:
  http://www.heise.de/security/meldung/Kritik-an-Intels-Sicherheits-Architektur-Software-Guard-Extensions-3089439.html
² https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_Guard_Extensions
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