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A NEWLY DISCOVERED vulnerability in computer chips has raised concerns that hackers could access sensitive data on most modern systems, as technology firms sought to play down the security risks.
Chip giant Intel issued a statement responding to a flurry of warnings surfacing after researchers discovered the security hole which could allow privately stored data in computers and networks to be leaked.
Intel labelled as incorrect reports describing a “bug” or “flaw” unique to its products.
Intel chief executive Brian Krzanich told CNBC that “basically all modern processors across all applications” use this process known as “access memory”, which was discovered by researchers at Google and kept confidential as companies work on remedies.
Google, meanwhile, released findings from its security researchers who sparked the concerns, saying it made the results public days ahead of schedule because much of the information had been in the media.
The security team found “serious security flaws” in devices powered by Intel, AMD and ARM chips and the operating systems running them and noted that, if exploited, “an unauthorised party may read sensitive information in the system’s memory such as passwords, encryption keys, or sensitive information open in applications”.
“As soon as we learned of this new class of attack, our security and product development teams mobilised to defend Google’s systems and our users’ data,” Google said in a security blog.
“We have updated our systems and affected products to protect against this new type of attack. We also collaborated with hardware and software manufacturers across the industry to help protect their users and the broader web.”
Spectre and Meltdown
The Google team said the vulnerabilities, labelled “Spectre” and “Meltdown”, affected a number of chips from Intel as well as some from AMD and ARM, which specialises in processors for mobile devices.
Intel said it was working with AMD and ARM Holdings and with the makers of computer operating software “to develop an industry-wide approach to resolve this issue promptly and constructively.”
Jack Gold, an independent technology analyst, said he was briefed in a conference call with Intel, AMD and ARM on the issue and that the three companies suggested concerns were overblown.
“All the chips are designed that way,” Gold said.
The companies were working on remedies after “some researchers found a way to use existing architecture and get into protected areas of computer memory and read some of the data,” he added.
Microsoft said in a statement it had no information suggesting any compromised data but was “releasing security updates today to protect Windows customers against vulnerabilities”.
But an AMD spokesman said that because of the differences in AMD processor architecture, “we believe there is near zero risk to AMD products at this time”.
ARM meanwhile said it was “working together with Intel and AMD” to address potential issues “in certain high-end processors, including some of our Cortex-A processors”.
“We have informed our silicon partners and are encouraging them to implement the software mitigations developed if their chips are impacted,” the SoftBank-owned firm said.
Slowdown?
Earlier this week, some researchers said any fix – which would need to be handled by software – could slow down computer systems, possibly by 30% or more.
Intel’s statement said these concerns, too, were exaggerated.
“Contrary to some reports, any performance impacts are workload-dependent, and, for the average computer user, should not be significant and will be mitigated over time,” the company statement said.
Tatu Ylonen, a security researcher at SSH Communications Security, said the patches “will be effective” but it will be critical to get all networks and cloud services upgraded, Ylonen said.
British security researcher Graham Cluley also expressed concern “that attackers could exploit the flaw on vulnerable systems to gain access to parts of the computer’s memory which may be storing sensitive information”.
“Think passwords, private keys, credit card data.”
But he said in a blog post that it was “good news” that the problem had been kept under wraps to allow operating systems such as those from Microsoft and Apple to make security updates before the flaw is maliciously exploited.
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As a respiratory consultant with a fellowship in advanced lung cancer diagnostics I am a very strong supporter of annual CT thorax Lung Cancer Screening for Ireland but i understand the current reason it has not been introduced to-date in Ireland is the fear of the medicolegal payouts it will cost the State in due course; currently the State Claims agency owes €4billion in medicolegal payouts; in healthcare economics terms thats 2 x National Children Hospitals – hopefully the State can find a way to resolve this and implement Lung Cancer Screening
@Oisin O’Connell: can you please explain how lung cancer screening will lead to an increase in claims and how the cost is higher when offset against catching cancers early, I assume less treatment is required and therefore lower costs. Or is it actually more costly on the heath service in terms of treatment versus palliative care. Or is it the fear of mistakes during screening. I’m a little confused by your comment.
@Rmaybe: No screening can ever detect 100% of cancers. Also, in diagnostics there will be an overlap between normal and abnormal features, so on retrospective review another reader may come to another conclusion. These types of “mistakes” tend to lead to very large payouts to patients whose cancer was missed, and make screening programs very expensive.
@Oisin O’Connell: if u had private health insurance I think u would stand a better chance of getting it done as a check up,I’m 52 I’m off the cigarettes 5 years but I’m still using the vape,now the dangers can be seen Oisin,if u have a medical card u will not be seen,I’m on the waiting list almost 18 months,to have a test done,my body stopped sweating about 3 years ago from a really bad virus I got,I might aswell be dead,because my skin is constantly hot,and starts burning as the day goes on,to the stage where it’s like your been burnt from the inside out,My own GP has contacted the place 4 times,but coz I’ve a medical card,but if u had private insurance,i could have been seen so much sooner,and not have 4 differnt autoimmunes now,money is everything now
@Kate Peters: Hi Kate, apologies if my question is inapproprate, but couldn’t you see the consultant privately? You will have to pay for the visit, but if your condition is serious they would find a way to get you “in” for public treatment. It will cost you 150-200 euro, which is a lot of money (and private insurance covers at most half of it anyway) but hopefully you won’t have to pay after that!
@Zmeevo Libe: once you enter the health service as a private patient you must remain as a private patient gor your treatment. There’s no hopping the queue over to the free public service. So if you pay for a private consultant and need further treatment it gets very expensive very quickly if you don’t have health insurance
@Oisin O’Connell: How much do you know about Pulmonary Fibrosis? do you know if its advanced that open heart surgery is probably a very bad idea? Because my father died last week despite the consultant in the Mater saying his lungs ‘arent great’ this was her bs way of telling me he had advanced pulmonary fibrosis. She casually mentioned what he had midway through a phone call after a consultation with my father that i realize now i should have been present for, as much of it went over dads head. He had open heart surgery in November and died exactly two months later, gasping for air on high flow oxygen because he refused to go on a ventilator. He spent the last two months of his life scared and suffering terribly. The fibrosis would have gotten him in the end, but why did they perform open heart for a heart valve replacement instead of doing keyhole, when they should have known he wouldnt survive long afterwards. Im so angry that this wasnt diagnosed sooner, he had regular checkups, until covid happened.
Some information on the signs and symptoms would be beneficial here. https://www.cancerresearchuk.org/about-cancer/lung-cancer/symptoms
50,000 trucks in a convoy in Canada. Elon Musk supporting them. Largest convoy in the history of planet earth. Millions out on the streets supporting them. Not one mention on Irish MSM. This place is NOT journalism. Open your eyes.
@The Almighty: actually I read about it yesterday on irish MSM.
So it’s yesterday’s news. Its gone, you missed it. Goes to show that if you don’t see or hear of something happening it doesn’t mean that it didn’t.
@The Almighty: https://www.rte.ie/news/world/2022/0129/1276670-truckers-canada/
Ironic though that you insist on a story about freedom of choice being reported.
@The Almighty: 1. This article is about lung cancer 2. a truck convoy in Canada has little if no bearing on Ireland.
@The Almighty: That was covered yesterday. Plenty of other online Canadian links available if we want to brush up on our French, mind you.
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