Unstoppable Scam E-Mail

[zambezi]

Intel's ME [out-of-band management of your PC and the data on it] which is embedded in one or more roms on the motherboard

One small ray of hope for non-techie mitigation of IME risk:

For IME access to your PC to be exploited remotely [as opposed to someone who has physical access to your device] probably requires IPv6 routing to be enabled on both your router and PC. It is easy to disable IPv6 on both.

However, that does not prevent "call-home" microcode embedded in your PC from hailing the mothership over IPv4...

 

[Shabz]

The best defence against this sort of threat is to lower the expectations of your friends and family.
You’re completely impervious to this sort of blackmail if they’re surprised at how tame your perversions are. Being considered a deviant is much more easily maintained than good internet security. Far less admin too.

 

[Wapinschaw]

The worst scam email I have had came purporting to be from my dad's email address...........three months after he died. I could willingly have inflicted physical harm on whoever did that.