Google: Phones, tablets also affected in newly discovered security breach
TORONTO — Google said a newly discovered security vulnerability initially thought to be linked to most modern computers is a threat to smartphones and tablets as well.
Reports began circulating Wednesday about a hardware issue that could cause sensitive data, including user passwords, to become accessible to hackers. To make matters worse, consumers were warned that a software update to fix the widespread problem could slow down their computers, although it remains unclear to what extent that is true.
While the problem was initially identified in computers based on Intel processors, Google has since pointed out the same security issue can be found in other devices. The tech giant said computers powered with hardware by AMD, Intel’s biggest competitor, are also affected.
Google warned that smartphones, tablets and other devices that use ARM processors will need a software update to be protected. Last year, a team of Google researchers stumbled upon the hardware issue, which involves three vulnerabilities, and the computer industry had been collaborating in secret on a fix.
Google, Intel and other companies were planning to release details about the security issues next week, once software updates were ready to be deployed, but were forced to go public early when news of the problems leaked.
In a statement Wednesday, Intel attempted to downplay worries about the hardware issue, saying it believes hackers “do not have the potential to corrupt, modify or delete data.” The company said a performance hit from a future software update “should not be significant and will be mitigated over time.”
AMD said it believes the issues pose zero or “near-zero risk” to consumers while “negligible performance impact” is expected from a software fix.
Users of the Linux operating system can already download an update while Microsoft and Apple are gradually pushing out fixes. “Since exploiting many of these issues requires a malicious app to be loaded on your Mac or iOS device, we recommend downloading software only from trusted sources such as the App Store,” Apple said in a statement.
Google said Android devices with the latest security update installed are protected, while users of the Chrome web browser and Chromebook computers might need to download an update.