IBM to Disable serial number in Pentium III 53
Taz writes "IBM
will disable the serial number
feature before shipping their PIII. " The question is
who will turn it back on? Without asking first?
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
IBM to Disable serial number in Pentium III
Related Links Top of the: day, week, month.
FORTRAN is not a flower but a weed -- it is hardy, occasionally blooms, and grows in every computer. -- A.J. Perlis
Serial Number = Good (Score:1)
Face it, it's damn easy to track you. Intel just made a way to make it even easier and everybody got pissed at them. The same people who started this who thing are the people who dissable their cookies and running cookiemunger and cookiesmasher, etc. because they think cookies let anybody track where you are and what web sites you've been to.
I'm supprised people aren't complaning that its' too easy to track people via IP address. It's no different the the serial number, and you can't dissable it. Right now Slashdot has access to WHO I AM because my ip address is being sent to the site whenever I go to ANY PAGE. OH MY GOD, I'M SCARED (not).
And the worest part, the serial number makes it much easier to stop pirating. When you install a priece of software, it can bind itself to your chip's serial number. Then no matter how many times you reinstall, it will still work. But NOOOO, so many people relay on stolen software (hey, can I borrow your office cd?) that heaven forbid there is an easy way to stop or at least slow down piracy...
This is rediculous. Bring on the serial number, it's not going to effect MY life.
BLah (Score:1)
Dell is also disabling the ID in the bios. It looks like Intel's about to learn just who it's friends are.
--Mephie
Serial Number = (Good,Not) (Score:1)
->Really paranoid people, change what it says via software.-
I count myself among those people. At work, I enable cookies so that when I go to a supplier's website to check for parts availability I don't have to re-type passwords and whatnot, at home I disable cookies completely. IP spoofing isn't impossible if you have enough background in networking.
However my idea is for some valiant soul to obtain his PIII CPU serial number and put it on the internet so that the same gurus who came up with spoofing MACs can spoof CPU IDs. Imagine how interesting it would be if 1,000,000 or more of us were spoofing the same number.
I don't have the background in low level x86 architecture to do it myself, but there should be many people who do.
How long do you think it would take for Intel to file suit in the spirit of Nintendo, to crush the dissemination of CPU ID spoofers?
LK
Won't affect my life either. (Score:1)
And if you're wondering, here's the most important reason I could care less what crap Intel packs into their chips: I don't ever plan on buying an Intel chip again. Buy an Alpha and be happy.
Serial Number = Good (Score:1)
So what you're saying is that Intel believes that the people who buy it's chips are pirates?
As a user of GPL'ed (and BSD, Artistic, etc) software, I strongly resent the accusation that I'm stealing copyrighted works. If I were to buy a PIII, that accusation would be present every time I used the computer. The serial number is still present whether that "feature" is turned off or not.
Silly.. (Score:1)
This isn't like the web browser thing where all of the other competing vendors are going to decide to implement something similar. If they do, there will surely be a way to disable it (like there is now) for those that don't want to use it.
I think you're being pretty silly, myself. Your broad statements about Javascript being a "pile of crap" and a "security hole" are unfounded. Instead of absorbing all of the mass-media hype try educating yourself about what these technologies can and cannot do and how you can and will be able to control them.
Yes, vulnerabilities have been discovered in the various Javascript implementations, but they're typically patched shortly after their discovery and I know of no cases where they've been exploited maliciously.
Why in the world would this be allowed to happen? (Score:1)
Doesn't this seem slightly INSANE, or is it just me? If this bit of rubbish ever does come to pass, what's to stop competing CPU vendors from shipping all of their CPU's with the same valid ID (like, zero)? Or how 'bout an ID of the user's choosing?
You people are getting just a little bit too paranoid here.
This will never happen (Score:1)
If the application legitimately needs the horsepower, other competing vendors will surely be able to provide a compatible processor (without the CPU ID mechanism). Why in the *world* would a software developer CHOOSE not to sell to those people?
Stop Piracy??? Get Real! (Score:1)
access denied (Score:1)
This means, (follow me here, genius) that it takes _SOFTWARE_ to read the ID to the site.
Gee.
Use mozilla. Change fetch_id() to return random64(). If Intel has some sort of checksum/crc built into the ID, it'll be
reverse-engineered. They have to tell people how
to verify it or nobody will verify it. If nobody
verifies it, random64() is good enough. Remember
how AOL used to do batch credit card transactions?
They used the simple checks to see if a card was valid. What happend? Right. People used card generators. Expect to see ID generators as well.
All in all... a total non-issue. Like all online
verification schemes.
--Dan
Again, wake me when you have a clue
Serial numbers are not just Intel's fault (Score:1)
Heck, you don't even need to be using your ethernet card to connect to the net... if it's just installed in your computer, you have a software-readable serial number in your machine. Or the ethernet chipset could already be on your motherboard, in workstations or high-end motherboards. Not removable.
And even if Intel's serial numbers take off, it will take both OS and browser support to make it a viable solution for web sites to track you... and even then the browsers will probably allow you to turn off the feature that sends your serial number.
So, for me, the serial numbers aren't a huge worry. My computers are already serialized.
IBM a PR pioneer? (Score:1)
It doesn't really matter, since it won't work... (Score:1)
No one will be worrying about it. ECommerce? Say a web site requires your ID to process a transaction. Okay, a (possibly) legitimate use. (Bear with me a moment.) Like a cookie, the vendor knows who you are by your PIII ID.
Now, pretend I'm not using Netscape or IE, but a browser I wrote myself. And this browser, instead of checking my CPU to read the ID, sends whatever ID I told it to use. And, just so the vendor will think I'm legit, my browser claims to be Netscape as well.
Don't want your software to know who you are? hack the OS so that it gets the ID from a file or something instead of reading the chip.
If it's not verifiable, it's of no use. No one's figured out how to change fingerprints yet, so they are considered hard evidence. Changing your appearance is not simple, so most people accept a picture ID (driver's license) as valid proof of identity. But no one would do business with someone based on something like a business card -- might be real, might be OfficeMax.
Serial Number = worthless (Score:1)
I'm not
The problem with the serial number as I see it is that people will put too much confidence into the value of this serial number.
They are already talking about the serial number being a secure method for e-commerce. It's about as secure as your credit card, and probably less so. Sniff around the network and you'll be seeing these ID's fly around the net without too much trouble. Hmmmm. This looks like a good one. I think I'll be that person for today.
How will you know that the serial number you are using is actually your real serial number, not something that somebody's managed to slip to you. Not quite like a trojan, but something close. Now you can't access your bank account. Or the same or a different program has sent your serial number to somebody who's computer now has full access to your bank account.
Software that will use this serial number will get hacked, just like how Office 2000 will get hacked to prevent the "registration" that Microsoft wants.
Upgrades will be hell. Which is what I see as the number one reason for not having everything go off the serial number.
>All cars have serial numbers.
This is true. But it's not too hard to have the VIN (Vehicle Identification Number) changed for various reasons. Some car afficianados want their car to be so perfect that if they take an existing car and change the paint color, they'll have a new VIN cut that now identifies the new color, not the old color that it was orginally painted. It can even be changed to reflect a color that wasn't available on that model at the time.
And then again, what use is the VIN anyways? Well, for tracking ownership, via title, which also relates to taxes, such as licensing. But when I fill up with gas, the gas doesn't care what VIN I have. It doesn't care if I've replaced the alternator. The tires don't have anything to do with the VIN. Even things that may very well have a VIN attached to them, such as a car door, can be replaced without repercussion.
That doesn't appear to be this case here
chip ID (Score:1)
feature defaulted to OFF?
-
Flash BIOS (Score:1)
Intel doesn't like you (Score:1)
for e-bizz? (Score:1)
Although I'm sure they'll come up with something to get around it.
*shurg*
______________________________________________
Look ma that just lurker posted!
Pestihl
change the P3 serial number to 666 (Score:1)
daemons like 666 don't they?
Buy AMD!! (Score:1)
MS Office 200X Setup
------------------------------------
MSOffice requires that your PSN be activated for setup. Do you wish setup to automatically activate it?
[ YES] [ NO]
yes = we got your id, so you can use our program.
no = go buy yourself another program. you dont get jack from us.
BOTTOM LINE = buy an AMD, because even without the psn, p3's performance still suck!! that's my $0.02
Dear INTEL EMPLOYEE (Score:1)
Why did the boycott stop? (Score:1)
Other OS's.... (Score:1)
Serial Number = Good (Score:1)
Since there was so much fraud with overclocking CPU's and that Jazz, this is one way to IDENTIFY THE CPU as what it says it is... like the VIN number on your car, it should be able to tell you all the aspects about the chip itself... ie.... Where chip was manufactured, what clock speeds, cache, etc... Maybe programmers would be able to use this number to tweak programs to perform accordingly to what info is determined... I don't know...
-WLP
whats with the serial numbers (Score:1)