Category Archives: Brian Krzanich

Congress wants answers on embargo of Spectre and Meltdown information

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Lawmakers on the House Committee on Energy and Commerce have sent letters to various CEOs at top tech companies asking why information about massive computer chip vulnerabilities was held under embargo for months. The letters focus on the Spectre and Meltdown bugs, deep-rooted flaws in chips produced by leading computer hardware companies that could allow hackers to access steal sensitive data from machines created as far back as 1995. Co-authored by panel Chairman Greg Walden, R-Ore., and members Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., Bob Latta, R-Ohio, and Gregg Harper, R-Miss., the letters request answers about why the bugs weren’t disclosed when the companies learned about them in June 2017. The committee has jurisdiction over technology issues. Information about the flaws was supposed to go public in late January, but security researchers tweeted proof-of-concept code before the companies were ready to make announcements. That tweet lead to wider public scrutiny, forcing the companies involved to […]

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Intel tried desperately to change the subject from Spectre and Meltdown at CES

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 Intel had a bad week last week. It was so bad that the chip maker has to be thrilled to have CES, the massive consumer technology show going on this week in Las Vegas, as a way to change the subject and focus on the other work they are doing. Rea… Continue reading Intel tried desperately to change the subject from Spectre and Meltdown at CES→

Intel CEO Krzanich addresses Meltdown and Spectre at CES

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Intel CEO Brian Krzanich addressed the Meltdown and Spectre bugs during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas, saying that forthcoming updates will fix all processors that have been introduced in the past five years. Krzanich thanked cybersecurity professionals for their work in uncovering and fixing the bugs, touting “the collaboration among so many companies to address this industry-wide issue across several different processor architectures.” Meltdown and Spectre are two exploits that leverage critical vulnerabilities in a wide range of processor chips. Intel is the company most directly impacted. The vulnerabilities allow attackers to steal data being processed on the computer, including passwords and other sensitive data. Since the bug became public, users have complained that patches have slowed computer performance anywhere from five to 30 percent. “We believe the performance impact of these updates is highly workload dependent,” he said. “Some workloads may experience a larger impact that […]

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