An article review.

Hackers could exert control over systems at their most basic level

Security researchers have identified a flaw in an enterprise management system Intel includes in the motherboard chipset for many consumer CPUs that could allow hackers to take control of affected machines, according to an article published by Yahoo Tech.

The vulnerability impacts early revisions of the Intel Management System, intended to allow organizations to manage fleets of PCs, and because the system typically runs in a way that is transparent to the end user it could be used to silently infect and control a machine. Luckily the threat is only theoretical, as no attacks have been reported in the wild as of yet.

Regardless of whether attacks have been observed in the wild, the discovery of this vulnerability calls attention to the potential risks presented by such systems and to Intel’s reluctance to disclose details about the management system, which has been called “security through obscurity.” The team which discovered the bug has called upon Intel to disclose more details surrounding their system, believing it would benefit everyone to have more information available to combat the threat.

Original article by Kevin Parrish writing for Yahoo.