AmpBenzScientist @AmpBenzScientist@qoto.org

@freemo @salcedo They are good laptops but the OEM has participated in Supply Chain Attacks for a long time. All the back doors that were accidentally left in and APTs from the Mainland targeting them with ease.

It's usually Firmware and UEFI that I've seen compromised. It would have to be the Chinese APTs responsible. I've never seen such impressive and efficient exploitation. I've seen Chinese software bypass Knox without tripping alarms back when it was an accomplishment. I've seen it hit Thinkpads bypassing the CPU security processor and other hardware security without it being noticed. It wasn't old hardware, it was still under warranty in some cases.

I hope you have an ace up your sleeve. None of my hardware was able to pull a sample. It's a shame because that was beautiful malware and I would have loved to have a sample. It was persistent, evasive and took me a few hours to recognize there was a threat and how deep it was. It wiped itself after discovery only leaving the same behavior after.

I can't say where I found it. I will say that their Sys Admin couldn't remote brick the device. They were upsetti spaghetti that I found something and used a little trick to bypass some of the security.

I'm not going to say that a portable firewall/router with custom settings will stop everything but it can buy some time or perhaps stop the vPro kill signal.

This was somewhere during the early Covid Years and the closest thing I could find to the capabilities of it was something that was used on NK by China. Even Kaspersky wasn't able to get a complete sample.

TL;DR Thinkpads are to businesses what MacBooks are to Art Schools. The supply chain is sketchy with the company having an odd history of over powered exploits and the firmware is locked down enough to prevent easy analysis. Just be careful with those laptops. I'm not a pro but I'm certainly not a novice. I still don't fully understand how it got past the Sys Admin but I would defend their actions because Certifications displaced useful information in their mind.

@thor I met a Norwegian Engineer and his family in the US. He worked for an oil company and got sent to the deep south in the US. We were introduced and we had a conversation. We met numerous times and worked together for a few months.

From what I've seen and experienced in interactions with Norwegians, I have noticed a few things.

Norwegians are generally friendly but reserved even if they are reformed criminals.

Norwegians are observant because they don't have to think about what they will say. No filters on their statements.

Norwegians are cautious but not cowards.

Norwegians can adapt to our weather but it's difficult at first. 32C and up with relative humidity around 80%.

I think Norwegians are attracted to heavy equipment or it could have just been the Engineer who watched me work through a hurricane to clean up storm debris.

Norwegians in the US will usually adopt part of the culture. Chivalry isn't dead down here. The English we speak is very close to English from Shakespeare's time. They seem to admire the patriotic nature of Americans.

In nearly every situation that isn't a party or social, I'd rather have Norwegians. At a social event I would have Norwegians and a Swede.

@freemo @salcedo So it's definitely not a Toughbook.

@freemo @lupyuen I don't see the problem except that it didn't specify if it was fission, fission-fusion or pure fusion.

Conventional energetic devices are just containers that fail to hold a chemical reaction.

There's even an argument that not knowing how to make a bomb is worse. For example a young agent finding a rental van with a lot of fertilizer and saying that it's fine exactly a year after setting a residence on fire and massacring a religious community.

Or making a funny tiktok where a glitter prank goes in an unexpected direction because they used aluminum powder.

"A little learning is a dangerous thing; drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring." Alexander Pope