Processor security flaws
FIRST MELTDOWN, THEN SPECTRE, NOW ZOMBIELOAD. JUST WHAT IS WRONG WITH CPU INSIDE YOUR COMPUTER?
CHIPMAKER INTEL, WHICH likely built the processor at the heart of your PC, can’t catch a break. After word of two potential flaws with its processors came out last year – and the company’s only fix, at least for one of them, caused said processors to run more slowly – it’s been hit by another in the form of Zombieload. To be clear, these aren’t viruses, but they are flaws in the way the increasingly tiny components in processors are laid out and constructed, enabling them to be exploited and overloaded by malware creators, and potentially to be used to steal your personal data.
INTEL FATIQUE
A fix for Zombieload has already been worked on and has been released to certain machines. Unfortunately, it appears to slow down computers in the same way as previous fixes; when the problem lies in immutable hardware, rather than easily rewritten software, there’s often little other choice. Understandably, the industry is beginning to get tired of Intel, particularly seeing as the hardware designs of rival AMD don’t appear to share the same flaws. Apple, which uses Intel processors in its Macs and MacBooks, is reportedly so fed up with Intel (which has also been impacted by processor shortages) that it is considering building its own processors for future devices.
So what can Intel do, beyond clumsy fixes which make our PCs more sluggish? Obviously, future processors will be designed to mitigate these security flaws. We also know that it is working with major PC manufacturers and tech companies like Dell, Microsoft and Google on its Athena project, which is set to outline the design of the next generation of PCs, including features like all-day battery life, 5G networking, and instant switch-on.
Intel then faces multiple threats, as well as opportunities: from competitors like AMD and Qualcomm (which is surging in mobile processors and is developing chips for low-cost, low-power PCs); to Apple’s own chip ambitions, plus the flaws in its own past processors. Now’s the time for Intel to get on the front foot – and fast.