The minute the Pi4 compute module showed up, the jig was up.
For the secure boot scheme to be really secure, you have to generate a unique key for each device. Most vendors don't bother because it means each firmware update has to be signed and encrypted for each unique device. This also means you have to have the infrastructure for device attestation. You can't just stick an update file on a public S3 bucket or FTP site like the good old days.
Some end up reusing the same product key, so if it's compromised, all devices in that family can be hacked. But even that's too much for some vendors.
Instead, they just wing it, and go back to the bad old habits (no encryption, or symmetric keys embedded in firmware) that get them featured in DefCon presentations.


all 19 comments