Of course, who would have doubted you Intel? After all, everyone knows that honesty and integrity are at the very foundation of large tech corporations like yourselves. Gold star award to anyone who can say that with a straight face
I wouldnt be surprised if that firmware update disables the undocumented mode described in the first post that allows ME to be turned off.
What else would it do? Intel Active Management Technology (AMT) system provides system administrators with a method of remotely controlling and securing PCs. The 3letters are system administrators.
Yes their logic is: implement hardware level backdoor and by this introduce vulnerabilities to millions of computers for feature that less than 1% of them will use. And don't allow other 99% to disable it.
Critical Flaws in Intel Processors Leave Millions of PCs Vulnerable https://thehackernews.com/2017/11/intel-chipset-flaws.html
NERF is also interesting regarding ME: https://www.wilderssecurity.com/thr...-reduce-their-attack-vector-with-nerf.398081/ I'm wondering how they are doing it, afaik it is still not possible to completely disable ME.
Found the origininal blog, looks like a more reliable method than ME cleaner but it is still not completely disabled: http://blog.ptsecurity.com/2017/08/disabling-intel-me.html
Intel Management Engine JTAG flaw proof-of-concept published "God Mode" requires special USB debugging connector August 29, 2018 https://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/08/29/intel_jtag_flaw/