Timeline of a growing crisis

How secrecy gave way to admissions

June 2017

Google warns the largest chip manufacturers, Intel, AMD and ARM, that their products suffer from a flaw that could leak customers’ personal information. The makers do not disclose this to the public.

December 2017

Apple quietly releases workarounds to help protect iphones with IOS11, computers using MACOS and Apple TVS after being alerted by Intel and ARM. It does not offer a fix for iphone 5 phones and older.

Jan 2

Technology website The Register claims Intel chips may have left billions of devices vulnerable to hackers, but suggest the problem only affects desktop computers, laptops and servers.

Jan 3

Intel admits it is aware of a flaw in its microprocessors, and reveals it is much worse than feared, since rival chip makers are also affected. Microsoft and Amazon say they are working on fixes.

Jan 4

The US government cybersecurity organisation says companies should replace their hardware (at colossal cost) to remain safe, then withdraws the statement after backlash.

Yesterday

Apple admits that all its products are affected apart from its watches, and that it has already issued some form of protection. It advises customers to be wary while browsing the web.