Symantec posts Intel chip ID fix

Anti-virus specialist, Symantec is today claiming it can protect against abusers of Intel's Pentium 3 identity feature.

The anti-virus company has posted a piece of software on its Web site (www.symantec.com) in response to last week's claim by a Canadian Net security firm that the Pentium III (PIII) chip's ID facility could compromise users' security.

Montreal-based Zero-Knowledge Systems had released an ActiveX program which can read a PC's processor serial number before it can be disabled by Intel's software utility. Intel issued the utility after a flurry of protests, primarily from consumer privacy groups, in advance of the PIII launch.

In a statement, Symantec said the move shows it is "committed to ensuring that users enjoy a safe computing environment". A spokesman denied it is just a publicity stunt.

Intel declined to comment on the Symantec announcement, but a spokesman for the chip giant said: "Intel doesn't see this as a privacy issue at all, because the [ID] facility isn't about identifying a single person."

He added that research conducted ahead of the PIII launch showed that major OEMs (original equipment manufacturers) and corporate IT departments are in favour of such a feature.

However, Dr Brian Gladman, technology policy advisor for the pressure group, Cyber-Rights & Cyber-Liberties, warned: "As Intel has worked this, it'll always be possible to write software to read the machine. Whatever Intel says, it's put this in the hands of the software writers."

The ID facility allows IT departments to monitor the whereabouts of PCs and the way they are used. For consumers, the ID is meant to facilitate ecommerce, for example by allowing stores to verify users more easily.