Intel faces probe over chip security
In 1994, after facing a public relations crisis over an elusive mathematics glitch that affected the accuracy of calculations made by its popular Pentium computer chips, Intel faces another one more than two decades later. But, now it is an even bigger test.
Two serious security issues with its chips that could have implications for nearly everyone touched by computing. And so far — in something of a repeat of the 1994 incident — Intel has failed to quiet critics, putting it in an awkward position this week as its chief executive prepares to take the stage at one of the world’s biggest tech trade shows.
The cause of the new public relations crisis is the disclosure last week of two new ways to filch data from the microprocessors inside nearly all of the world’s computers; they are known as Meltdown and Spectre. “It is a very big deal, because it’s an area people haven’t looked at before,” said Bruce Schneier, a computer security expert and lecturer at the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard. “Everybody is going to start now.” Intel was privately informed of the issues by security researchers in June. The company, which has rejected doing a chip recall or other costly remedies, said it has quietly marshaled a coalition of software, hardware and cloud services to develop and deploy programming tweaks that are designed to close most of the security gaps. Intel and its partners said the fixes should be largely in place this week. “We’ve gotten much more mature in our ability to respond,” said Steven L Smith, an Intel vice president who was closely involved in the Pentium crisis and is now overseeing new security issues. But how well the proposed fixes work remains uncertain, putting Brian Krzanich, Intel’s chief executive, in the hot seat. Krzanich is scheduled to help kick off the International CES trade show, one of the biggest tech conventions of the year, at a Las Vegas hotel on Monday night. He might address the chip security problems and artificial intelligence, virtual reality etc.