[ExI] Three different surveillance firmware implants were made in in Chinese routers sold worldwide

[Adrian Tymes]

On Mon, Aug 31, 2026 at 6:14 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> On 31/08/2026 03:22, Adrian Tymes wrote:
> > On Sun, Aug 30, 2026 at 10:05 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat
> > <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> >> On 29/08/2026 21:11, John K Clark wrote:
> >>> "These aren't conventional vulnerabilities where someone accidentally forgot to bounds-check a buffer. These are pieces of software deliberately included in the router firmware that provide remote access to the device. We would normally call this malware"
> >> I don't understand the 'normally' bit.
> >>
> >> This /is/ malware. We should be calling it malware. Why would anyone not call it malware?
> > Because of the technicality that it's working as intended by the maker
> > of the system, rather than being added by a third party.
>
> Hmm, that's falling into the trap of assuming that the proper function of a thing is what the maker intends, and not what the user intends.

Agreed, but that trap is in the generally accepted definition of
"malware".  I did say it was a technicality - and you were asking
about "anyone", which means the explanation is from their point of
view, including the definitions they use no matter whether you agree
with them or not.