[cocomutator]

I still don't understand why this ME feature has been created to begin with. Assuming that breaking it is a matter of time (someone clever enough thinking about it for long enough), it seems like a serious security vulnerability, worse still because an attack is undetectable.

Why create it in the first place? Are the enterprise uses the article mentions worth the risk?

[yuhong]

Yes, I think it was originally intended for enterprises doing remote management.

[khedoros]

The board needs vPro/AMT for things like remote access. If the board doesn't implement those things (and you'd usually know, because you pay more for them), the ME ends up doing...well, I'm not sure what. I think mostly things like enforcing DRM? Still, the machine needs special support on the motherboard and ethernet controller to enable the features that people are complaining the most about.