We dont have to ask that question, because we already KNOW that the US mandated manufacturers to put backdoors into commercial and consumer hardware for years. So we have got "guaranteed to be a threat actor" vs "maybe a threat actor" hmmmm idk man, seems like an easy choice.

Yes, we should be asking that for all suppliers.

IOW one installs their DRAM and it comes with LED lights. Those require their software to control. One should be far more concerned with the RGB software doing something nefarious than the hardware.

Thanks for the in-depth response, I learned a little bit from you. :)

I'm reminded of the old black hat proof of concepts about reading bits of data via network adapter LEDs, or about listening to sound cards in other rooms doing their signal processing.

I low key kind of love the idea of an evil exfiltration scheme to use a local sound card to receive information about memory contents and then try to pass it somehow desperately over the internet, only now to be thwarted by a mute button. 🤣

Ok awesome, thanks for explaining that. I didn't know what could be the attack vector (if any). After the supermicro(?) thing a few years back, it made me question what we actually know about the security of physical hardware.

Or everywhere. So they dont seem different apart from marketing and packaging.

Yeah, I don't know how it compares to other oems. It was meant as more of a curiosity than an accusation.

It's an economy of scale though, with more data to pull from, you are more likely to get something interesting. On the flip side, you also increase your chances of getting caught.

Again, I am coming from a place of ignorance here. This is not my wheelhouse.

Both. Both are the same

If I have to live with three or four holes in my canoe hull that let water leak in, because I literally have no choice, I guess I accept it. If someone offers me a cheaper oar but it adds a new leaking hole to the hull, I can choose not to take it; it's at least worth considering not taking on the additional hole.

Nothing, I don't know what (if any controls) are in that now. I do know Benn Jordan did a video about the robot dogs the other day and they had HUGE backdoors and security implications that go back to servers in mainland China. That's what prompted my reply. I don't trust any of my equipment to be unadulterated anymore but where there is a history of having backdoors in place, I am extra leery.

Yeah, I am worried about the US, whether it be from the supplier of the chips, the os, third party applications, or my ISP, I can almost guarantee there is someone in my network who shouldn't be. I don't have to like it or make it any easier for there to be more of them though.

I don't know, I said as much in my post.