Spectre and Meltdown Security Flaws In Processors Affects Millions Of PCs

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Decade old kernel memory leak in Intel, AMD, and ARM processors design requires Windows, Linux, and MacOS redesign.

Two security flaws known as Spectre and Meltdown, has been found in virtually all Intel, AMD, and ARM processors that will require fixes within Windows, MacOS, and Linux operating systems, according to reports.

Developers scrambled to fix the bug that is currently thought to affect every Intel designed Central Processing Chip (CPU) made in the last decade, as well as processors made by AMD and ARM; an issue that will affect millions of computers currently running any of the three major operating system.

Fixes have been made available for some Linux Distributions, but users of both Windows and MacOS were forced to wait as key components of both operating systems are altered.

‘Meltdown’ and ‘Spectre’ flaws affect millions of Intel, AMD, and ARM processors.

Our bad

While the chip manutacturers have been forced to admit that the fault lies with them, and will address the problem in future chips, the solution lies with OS manufacturers, as the issue resides in the physical architecture of the chips, so a microcode update can’t properly repair it.

While the bug is in itself an extremely technically complex issue, the issue resides within Intel’s chip Kernel design. Essentially, the kernel on every chip Intel has manufactured in the last decade or so, leaks memory. This  leaves users systems open to potentially extremely sensitive data being exposed such as passwords and financial information.

What’s worse is the fact that the issue makes it easier for hackers to inject malware into computer systems.

System Slow Down

However, the fix will also come with one serious side effect. The changes to the way operating systems interact with the processor means that users will slow down Intel chip users PCs, and in some cases by up to 30%.

The bug affects all Intel x86 series CPUs manufactured in the past 10 years;and that’s regardless of whatever OS users are running on whatever machine, be it PC or laptop. Some newer Intel CPUs have been reported to have been less impacted than older variants but that some slowdown is inevitable.

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