RMS is sounding less and less crazy with discoveries like this. To think a manufacturer would essentially rootkit their own machines is testament to how bad things have become.
Would running TrueCrypt full disk encryption protect you from your own hardware? If the BIOS can't read the disk on boot, I don't think it would inject the binary into the file system.
I looked into blackphone a while ago. If I remember correctly the first thing it asks for is your e-mail address so it can sign you up to their proprietary anonymity/cloud service. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but if it is I think they've completely misunderstood their target audience. Thanks for reminding me though I will have another look into it.
Couldn't agree more. These days we have to protect ourselves more from our own software than from viruses. Assume any software is a trojan horse, even the OS.
As time goes by, computer software begins to feel more and more hostile to the user. When I installed Windows 10, all the privacy settings made me feel like I was wrangling a beast rather than setting up something that would help me.
I don't know if there's any solution or if privacy is just a remnant of the past. Is Linux any better? And is there any way to own a smartphone which is built not to leak my information, either through the operating system or through 3rd party apps that request access to everything on the phone?
Would running TrueCrypt full disk encryption protect you from your own hardware? If the BIOS can't read the disk on boot, I don't think it would inject the binary into the file system.