Greetings. I haven't seen much discussion regarding Intel's new "Active Management Technology" being deployed as part of at least some new Intel CPU chipsets. Touted as a grand tool for remote maintenance, repair and monitoring -- including "compliance with government regulations" -- a key feature is that it apparently works even when the associated notebook is powered off (however "powered off" is being defined).

While these new capabilities are initially usually disabled, the scope of the possible back channels created by this technology and the possible opportunities for sophisticated abuse, appear significant enough to be worth serious debate.

I'd be interested in the readership's opinions regarding this.

You can read details at Intel's AMT page and from this Intel PDF document.

--Lauren--