this post was submitted on 13 Aug 2023
733 points (93.5% liked)

Memes

44079 readers
3071 users here now

Rules:

  1. Be civil and nice.
  2. Try not to excessively repost, as a rule of thumb, wait at least 2 months to do it if you have to.

founded 5 years ago
MODERATORS
 
all 47 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] FlexibleToast 92 points 10 months ago (5 children)

I guess if you don't know what a rootkit is it could seem like one.

[–] c0mbatbag3l 43 points 10 months ago (1 children)

This is the calmest, most insulting thing you could have possibly said.

[–] FlexibleToast 14 points 10 months ago

Thanks, often that's what I'm going for.

[–] PixxlMan 10 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Yeah. This meme makes no sense..

Let's avoid misinforming people please. The reality is bad enough, no need to start lying and deceiving

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago (1 children)

But the meme has the right intention. Google WILL deploy a rootkit to make it make sense

[–] MooseBoys 1 points 10 months ago (1 children)

While WEI definitely doesn’t qualify as a rootkit itself, any useful attester is going to require aspects of one - whether it’s a phone asserting that it hasn’t been rooted, or a PC running with approved SecureBoot and TPM keys.

[–] FlexibleToast 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

That's still not a rootkit. What do people think rootkits are?

[–] MooseBoys 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Sure it is. A rootkit is a mechanism for hooking access to highly privileged execution levels of a device, masking its own presence, and persisting itself against removal. TPM + SecureBoot runs in firmware, more privileged than kernel mode. It analyzes the bootloader and other key boot parameters to verify they have not been tampered with. They can’t be disabled from within the OS. And sometimes they can’t be removed or disabled at all without someone finding a vulnerability, as in the case with phone rooting.

[–] FlexibleToast 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

Great, but using the TPM as intended is not a rootkit or anything like a rootkit. It's using a security device as intended.

[–] MooseBoys -1 points 10 months ago

Although often associated with it, a rootkit does not inherently need to be malware. In the case of phones, and likely future PCs, they are used to prevent users and owners from modifying their device.

[–] Spudwart -4 points 10 months ago (1 children)

There’s no way to say this one way or the other until it’s implemented.

However to “verify” a system from a hardware level to any decent level of accuracy would require kernel level access.

Technically you’re correct, until you’re not.

[–] FlexibleToast 8 points 10 months ago

That's still not what a rootkit is. Lol

[–] [email protected] 58 points 10 months ago (2 children)

Spudward is on a fucking crusade

[–] [email protected] 30 points 10 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 4 points 10 months ago

Wow, you weren’t kidding.

[–] [email protected] 21 points 10 months ago (2 children)

I don't think it'll go that far. What I'm more worried about is that the spec calls for multiple attesters. So Microsoft and others might even make their own under the spec.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 10 months ago (3 children)

Every platform that has a vested interest (e.g. is, or is a large contractor of advertising companies) will likely want in on this.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 10 months ago

If the choices are in or out, any company beholden to investors or shareholders won't really have a lot of options it seems.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 10 months ago

They are trying to cut off internet access so only paying customers can stay

[–] pivot_root 3 points 10 months ago

Color me surprised that it's Google that created and pushed for support of this shit.

[–] pivot_root 10 points 10 months ago

It doesn't matter if it goes short or far. This shit is DRM, and if any part of it makes it into browsers, it's the end of the web as we know it.