Patches are on the way: Intel CEO

■ Intel has pushed backed the idea of hardware recall

Las Vegas, Jan. 9: Intel has big plans to steer toward new business in self- driving cars, virtual reality and other cutting- edge technologies. But first it has to pull out of a skid caused by a serious security flaw in its processor chips, which undergird many of the world’s smartphones and personal computers.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich opened his keynote talk Monday night at the annual CES gadget show in Las Vegas by addressing the hard- tofix flaws disclosed by security researchers last week.

At an event known for its technological optimism, it was an unusually sober and high- profile reminder of the information security and privacy dangers lurking beneath many of the tech industry's geewhiz wonders.

Some researchers have argued that the flaws reflect a fundamental hardware defect that can’t be fixed short of a recall. But Intel has pushed back against that idea, arguing that the problems can be “mitigated” by software or firmware upgrades.

From Microsoft to Apple, everyone has announced efforts to patch the vulnerabilities.

And Mr Krzanich promised fixes in the coming week to 90 per cent of the processors Intel has made in the past five years, consistent with an earlier statement.

But he also added that updates for the remainder of those recent processors should follow by the end of January. Mr Krzanich did not address the firm’s plans for older chips.

To date, he said, Intel has seen no sign that anyone has stolen data by exploiting the two vulnerabilities, known as Meltdown and Spectre. The problems were disclosed last week by Google’s Project Zero security team and other researchers.

Mr Krzanich commended the “remarkable” collaboration among tech firms to address what he called an “industry- wide” problem.

While Meltdown is believed to primarily affect processors built by Intel, Spectre also affects many of the company’s rivals. Flaws affecting the processor chips also endanger the PCs, internet browsers, cloud computing services and other technology that rely on them. Both bugs could be exploited through what’s known as a side- channel attack that could extract passwords and other sensitive data from the chip's memory.

He then launched into a flashy and wide- ranging celebration of the way Intel and its partners are harnessing data for futuristic innovations, from 3D entertainment partnerships with Paramount Pictures to VR collaborations with the 2018 Winter Olympics and a new breakthrough in so- called quantum computing.

A self- driving Ford Fusion rolled onto the stage of the casino theater where Mr Krzanich gave his talk.

It’s the first of a 100- vehicle test fleet run by Mobileeye, the Israelbased software company that Intel bought for $ 15 billion last year. Mobileeye processes the information cars “see” from cameras and sensors.