It has been a couple of years since the Meltdown bug was first discovered in CPUs and since then, similar bugs have also been found to affect older processors. This week, news of another Meltdown-type vulnerability made its way online, seemingly impacting AMD Zen+ and Zen 2 processors. Dresden Technology …
Read More »A new Intel CPU security flaw has been discovered, security patches have begun rolling out
It has been just over a year since CPU vulnerabilities like Spectre and Meltdown last dominated the news cycle. Efforts have been made to fix these flaws and newer CPUs have extra protections in place. Unfortunately for Intel, a new issue has now popped up, known as ‘Zombieload', which has …
Read More »Intel simplifies its new T&Cs, removing controversial comparison clause entirely
Yesterday, Intel acknowledged that it had caused an uproar with its controversial terms and conditions, attempting to prevent comparison benchmarks between its older microcode updates and its new Foreshadow mitigating patch. After promising to update the license, the firm got in touch with us to provide a statement, as well …
Read More »Intel backtracks on controversial benchmark clause, updating its T&Cs
Update (24/08/18): The firm has now “simplified the Intel license to make it easier to distribute CPU microcode updates and posted the new version,” reiterating that it “welcomes all feedback.” Original Story (23/08/18): Alongside its series of microcode fixes to combat Foreshadow and Spectre vulnerabilities, Intel stirred up controversy earlier …
Read More »Controversial T&C clause found in Intel’s latest microcode update
Update (23/08/18): Intel has acknowledged the controversy, promising to change its terms and conditions once again. Intel has released a brand new set of speculative execution microcode updates, helping to mitigate the recently announced Foreshadow vulnerability alongside additional Spectre variants. It looks as though these patches are set to continue …
Read More »Intel adds Foreshadow to its growing list of CPU vulnerabilities
Intel adds three L1 Terminal Fault (L1TF) bugs to its growing list of processor flaws, led by Foreshadow.
Read More »Spectre-like variant 4 fix can slow system performance by up to 8 percent
After the disclosure of Meltdown and Spectre, Microsoft and Google promptly shed light on Speculative Store Bypass (variant 4), the latest vulnerability in a string of CPU flaws. Much like Intel’s buggy Spectre patches, the latest fix quells variant 4, but at the price of slowing some systems down by …
Read More »AMD fortifies years’ worth of processors with Spectre mitigating fix
Although much of the attention surrounding Spectre CPU flaws has been directed at Intel, it shouldn’t be forgotten that AMD processors are also affected by the exploit. The ‘Red Team’ has now issued a new patch to further mitigate Spectre Variant 2 attacks, covering products dated as far back as …
Read More »Microsoft’s initial Meltdown patch has opened up a worse security risk
Back in January, Microsoft attempted to smooth over Intel’s buggy Meltdown fixes by issuing a patch of its own. Unfortunately, it seems that the Windows-maker has also dropped the ball on its patch, causing an even greater security hole in the process. It was obvious from the reveal of Spectre …
Read More »Intel reveals more details on this year’s Spectre & Meltdown-proof processors
Given how widespread the Spectre and Meltdown issues are, it’s only a matter of time before processor manufacturers release new CPUs circumventing the vulnerabilities. Intel is hard at work on its new chips set to release this year, revealing some of the hardware changes it’s making to ensure that future …
Read More »Microsoft launches bug bounty program to further mitigate Spectre and Meltdown
Two weeks ago, Microsoft stepped in to help distribute Intel’s Spectre and Meltdown fixes as individual vendors would have been too slow. It looks like the Redmond-based company isn’t done just yet, either, as now it’s offering a bug bounty program for anyone that identifies an attack based on the …
Read More »Intel has racked up 32 lawsuits and counting, due to Meltdown and Spectre issues
Intel is experiencing an overwhelming amount of legal action over the Meltdown and Spectre flaws, as the company reveals that the count is currently at 32 lawsuits. The blue team is also under fire from the inside, as three shareholders have each filed shareholder derivative cases claiming a lack of …
Read More »Nvidia and Uni security researchers developed a new Spectre and Meltdown exploit
Ever since the Meltdown and Spectre revelations hit at the start of this year, security researchers have been working out the extent of the damage and the various ways it can be exploited in order to help with patch development. This week, experts from Nvidia and Princeton University managed to …
Read More »Intel has begun rolling out its Spectre fix for Skylake processors
Intel is continuing to make progress in its efforts to tackle the Spectre/Meltdown bugs that were publicly unveiled last month. While earlier firmware updates ran into some issues, the chip maker is back on the ball with new firmware updates free of reboot errors. This week, new firmware began rolling …
Read More »US Gov calls on leading tech firms to explain Spectre and Meltdown secrecy
The public unveiling of the Spectre and Meltdown CPU bugs has caught the tech industry by storm over the last several weeks. We've been getting constant updates on patches and new information on how the bug was handled prior to going public is still coming to light. Now, it turns …
Read More »Intel set to release new processors immune to Meltdown & Spectre later this year
Intel revealed record fourth-quarter revenues during its earnings call last night, but is keen not to lose this profitability to recent security concerns. Intel CEO Brian Krzanich has since reassured investors that Intel already has a solution to its Meltdown and Spectre issues with a line of upcoming processors set …
Read More »Apple releases Meltdown patch for macOS El Capitan and High Sierra
As soon as the Spectre and Meltdown CPU bugs became public knowledge, OS makers began kicking patch development into overdrive in an effort to plug the security holes as quickly as possible. Windows 10 is already patched, several versions of Linux are patched but Apple has been lagging behind a …
Read More »Intel isolates the issue surrounding Spectre & Meltdown reboot bug
Spectre and Meltdown have caused havoc for Intel, from the initial security issues posed, to impending lawsuits and even the company’s fix resulting in reboot issues across Broadwell and Haswell systems. It seems that Intel has finally isolated the problem and is now working on an update. “We have now …
Read More »Leo Says Ep12: Nvidia Big Gaming Display, Intel payouts, Bitcoin, Facebook News, Apple HQ2, Samsung SSDs
Its a new year, but Leo is just as grumpy as ever. He discussed many new topics in todays 'Leo Says'. But do you agree with everything he says?
Read More »AMD is also being dragged into court following Spectre and Meltdown reports
During the fallout of the Spectre/Meltdown bug discovery, lawsuits have already begun flying left and right. Intel, ARM and Apple are already named in one particular suit, and it looks like AMD won't be getting away unscathed either. This week, an AMD shareholder filed a lawsuit against the company, after …
Read More »Intel releases Spectre/Meltdown firmware updates, publishes benchmark results for data centre systems
Intel's fight against the Spectre and Meltdown bugs continues but with it, more issues are also beginning to arise. Last week, it was discovered that a recent firmware update was causing reboot issues with older Intel processors. Now Intel has confirmed that newer processors can also be affected, with Sandy …
Read More »AMD issues update on CPU security: Spectre is a concern, Meltdown is not
There has been a lot of discussion surrounding the Spectre and Meltdown security bugs over the last week. After evaluating the situation, AMD has explained which of these bugs affect its own CPUs and how it plans to solve the problem.
Read More »Microsoft halts security patch after AMD systems fail to boot
Following on from last week's news of a kernel bug affecting x86 systems, OS makers began preparing patches. Microsoft's Windows 10 patch to mitigate this issue was due to arrive today but it seems that it caused issues with AMD systems. As a result, the patch is being halted on …
Read More »Intel updates its kernel flaw statement with performance findings from Microsoft, Apple and others
Earlier this week a security flaw with x86 CPUs went public, which reportedly impacted Intel CPUs the most. The major concern going around was that in order to fix this, OS makers would have to change how Windows, macOS and Linux manage the kernel, which would lead to a performance …
Read More »Fancy a drink at the local esports bar?
It was way back at the end of January that I discussed why I felt esports were better than real sports and apparently I'm not the only one, as a bar is now set to open up in out fair capital, providing gaming inspired drinks while broadcasting esports as the in-house …
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