[FYI] CN: Follow-up Report on Hidden Perils in Pentium III and W

[Horns@t-online.de (Axel H. Horns)]

http://jya.com/cn-p3-peril.htm

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2 July 1999. Thanks to John Gilmore. 


From: Guangming Daily newspaper, Wednesday, June 30, 1999 

Translation by (and thanks to):  Anonymous 

Ministry of Information Industry (MII) Advises Government Agencies on
Prudent Use of PIII 

Follow-up Report on Hidden Perils in Pentium III and Win98 

by Our Staff Reporter Yang Gu 

Our report on the hidden security perils in Pentium III of Intel and
Win98 of Microsoft has evoked strong reaction from all sides.  The
leaders of the information centers of a number of Ministries and
Commissions have written to MII, in the hope of getting its advice and
guidance. Heads of competent departments of MII have convened
emergency meetings of domestic PC manufacturers and information
centers of some Ministries and Commissions, at which they listened to
opinions aired by all sides and discussed relevant policies and
measures.  Upon widely soliciting views and getting extensive
information, MII will prepare a report on enhancing security
management for electronic information products. 

Administration: PIII sold to government agencies cannot be connected
directly to Internet 

In an interview with our staff reporter, the head of the competent
departments of MII said that as the administration, we strongly
believe that national interests are of overarching importance.  We
must first of all be responsible for the security of the information
systems of government agencies at all levels, and place high emphasis
on the security dimensions of all kinds of electronic information
products (including hardware and software) and the system itself.  We
have conducted serious research and thus acquired a thorough knowledge
of hidden security perils in PIII chips, Win98 as well as servers
produced by different companies.  We have also learnt about the
response of the media and American end users toward Processor Serial
Number (PSN) of PIII, including the fact that the U.S. Government is
yet to use PIII on a massive scale.  We are of the view that domestic
PC manufacturers must turn off PSN, that such products sold in China
must pass the necessary testing and that PIII machines sold to
government agencies should not be directly connected to Internet. 
Government agencies at all levels, including those in such critical
sectors as telecommunications, banking, finance and taxation, and the
military must first and foremost turn off PSN when they buy PIII
machines.  Even then, computers of this nature should only be used
either in a stand-alone way or on Intranet, and must never be used for
direct Internet connection with the OA network of government agencies.

[...]

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