Does the intel management engine make any firewall less effective?

[tman904]

Hi.
With all the news about the intel me I have a few questions.

1. Intel me has it's own network interfaces for out of band management right?
2. Does this mean no network can be secured?
3. Can intel me be accessed over the network and bypass any firewall rules?
4. Could any firewall using an intel CPU be hacked right from the WAN side?

Thanks for your time.

[johnpoz]

You wouldn't have AMT enabled on a firewall box ;)

Not all intel nics have ME/AMT

[tman904]

Sure makes sense, but what about a box made with off the shelf hardware server grade even? Rather if you can't disable is it a huge security hole?