A major security bug was discovered in Intel’s computer chips over the week meaning any Microsoft, Mac or Linus users could be hacked, now governments could also be at risk of being compromised.
Intel says it is working hard issuing updates for Intel-based computer systems for the major of processors introduced within the past five years, however many governments use older systems and computers meaning they could still be at risk from this security flaw.
These new updates could also slow down systems by up to 30 per cent, according to experts.
The Register was the first to break the news of this major security breach where people could gain access to secure information.
Speaking to Bloomberg Tech, Michela Menting, digital security research director at ABI Research says, ““This will adversely affect highly regulated sectors, such as the NHS. There’s a whole chain of authority that needs to run before machines can be altered. In addition to this wait time, once the patches are run, they are likely to slow down processing speeds.”
Intel denied users could be hacked saying its products are the most secure in the world.
Intel has issued a statement saying “Intel has developed and is rapidly issuing updates for all types of Intel-based computer systems — including personal computers and servers — that render those systems immune from both exploits (referred to as “Spectre” and “Meltdown”) reported by Google Project Zero. Intel and its partners have made significant progress in deploying updates as both software patches and firmware updates.”
More to come.
