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mendax writes:

Despite a "multi-year effort to prevent hackers from altering computers while they boot up has largely failed because of lax application of preventive steps, researchers say, despite disclosures that flaws are being exploited."

More from the article:

In the latest sign that the problem persists, researchers at the federally funded MITRE lab said this week that many customers of Intel Corp still had not adopted revised security designs Intel distributed in March after the MITRE team found new vulnerabilities in the start-up process. That could mean many newer Windows computers remain exposed, the MITRE team told Reuters ahead of a presentation at the Black Hat security conference in Las Vegas next week. The stubborn glitches illustrates how such well-funded spying programs as those exposed by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden can continue to succeed against targets that depend on a complex supply chain.

Ironically, the article also points out:

Long before Snowden's documents began appearing the media, professional technicians and U.S. officials were concerned about the vulnerabilities that left computers severely exposed as they are turned on. Years ago, then-U.S. National Security Agency Director Keith Alexander privately urged the chief executives of major American technology companies to do something about the boot-up procedure known as the Basic Input/Output System, or BIOS.