INFRA
INFRA
INFRA
Intel has redesigned its next-gen chips to fix Meltdown and Spectre flaws
Intel Corp. is promising that the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities will mostly be a thing of the past in its next generation of central processing units following a redesign of its upcoming eighth-generation Xeon and Core processor chips.
The Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, putting aside the attention they have gained, are notable because unlike most security issues that arise, they’re not related to software but a hardware vulnerability built into most chips made over the last 20 years. A hacker can compromise the privileged memory of CPUs and gain control of various software applications. Although there have been various attempts at patching the vulnerabilities, they come with both risks and performance issues.
Intel’s new chips will be mostly Meltdown- and Spectre-free from the get-go. Chief Executive Officer Brian Krzanich explained in a blog post that the chipmaker has redesigned parts of its processors “to introduce new levels of protection through partitioning” that will protect against both Spectre variant 2 and Meltdown variant 3 weaknesses.
“These changes will begin with our next-generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors (code-named Cascade Lake) as well as 8th Generation Intel Core processors expected to ship in the second half of 2018,” Krzanich wrote. “As we bring these new products to market, ensuring that they deliver the performance improvements people expect from us is critical. Our goal is to offer not only the best performance, but also the best secure performance.”
The redesigned processors won’t be entirely free of vulnerabilities. Krzanich noted that the Spectre variant 1 vulnerability will continue to be addressed via a software patch.
It’s a positive step forward for both Intel and naturally computer users. But it still faces a lot of trouble on the legal front. As of Feb. 18, Intel was facing 35 lawsuits related to both the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities. Thirty of the lawsuits are class action suits that generally represent users who claim to have been harmed by Intel’s actions or omissions.
Photo: wiredforsound23/Flickr
Since you’re here …
… We’d like to tell you about our mission and how you can help us fulfill it. SiliconANGLE Media Inc.’s business model is based on the intrinsic value of the content, not advertising. Unlike many online publications, we don’t have a paywall or run banner advertising, because we want to keep our journalism open, without influence or the need to chase traffic.The journalism, reporting and commentary on SiliconANGLE — along with live, unscripted video from our Silicon Valley studio and globe-trotting video teams at theCUBE — take a lot of hard work, time and money. Keeping the quality high requires the support of sponsors who are aligned with our vision of ad-free journalism content.
If you like the reporting, video interviews and other ad-free content here, please take a moment to check out a sample of the video content supported by our sponsors, tweet your support, and keep coming back to SiliconANGLE.
