As I anticipated yesterday, a federal class action lawsuit has been filed against Intel. From Courthouse News Service:
SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) – Computer chipmaker Intel faces a major class action filed Wednesday night in what could be the opening salvo in a flood of litigation over two recently discovered security flaws that make most of the world’s computers vulnerable to hacking.
The security flaws, called Meltdown and Spectre, enable hackers to swipe data from personal computers, mobile devices and servers, including those that connect to cloud computing networks.
Microsoft Windows on Tuesday unveiled a security patch for the Meltdown flaw, which affects nearly all Intel microprocessors that make up more than 90 percent of computer servers.
The Meltdown flaw could enable hackers to bypass the barrier between applications and hardware to access a computer’s core memory and steal private information like passwords through cloud computing services.
According to a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday night, fixes offered by operating systems like Windows and Linux will “dramatically reduce the performance†of computers.
“Intel has failed to cure the defect or replace plaintiffs’ Intel CPUs with nondefective CPUs and offer full compensation required under federal and state law,†the 26-page complaint states.
The Meltdown fix could slow computers down by as much as 30 percent, according to recent cyber security reports.
The affected class is so large and the cost of remediation large enough that, again as I noted yesterday, this whole affair could constitute a near-death experience for Intel. Intel shares fell 2% yesterday. We’ll see if that continues today.
Swapping out processors isn’t something that can or should be performed by the typical computer user. Additionally, today’s processors won’t necessarily fit the same sockets as those made in 2008. A socket change means a motherboard change and a motherboard change probably requires a new operating system license. Intel is presumably hoping that the software remediation won’t decrease performance noticeably. That’s what the company’s official statements have claimed. If that doesn’t prove to be the case, they’re in trouble. If it does prove to be the case, expect stockholder lawsuits, too. Right now Intel’s stock is where it was in 2000.
Win or lose Intel faces millions or even billions of dollars in legal expenses. I suspect that’s what the small stock price declines reflect.
Oh man! Since 2008? That was THREE computer systems ago! And I’ve been sitting here mumbling about what I should build next.
You can put what I know about computer function in a thimble. Is the upshot here that hacking is largely a function of a faulty barrier design rather than crafty techies?
I’m no authority on hacking but the impression I’ve been given is that most hackers aren’t particularly sophisticated. Most breaches are caused by failures of workmanship by computer manufacturers and operating system producers and failure to take appropriate security measures on the part of users.
I’ve built every home computer system we’ve ever used until the last one. I just couldn’t beat the price of a pre-built.
However, I did build the system I use most of the time. Arguably, I’ve only built one main system and that was 25 years ago. The system I’m using now is that system, upgraded repeatedly over the years. A hard drive (now SSDs) here, a motherboard there, a new operating system every now and again. I started using small form factor chassis about ten years ago. Those present more of a challenge for building high performance computers. My present graphics board is larger and more expensive than my motherboard/CPU/memory.
My rule of thumb, if you’re switching to another motherboard with another processor, you’ve got another computer. Yeah, some stuff carries over, like monitors and keyboards, and maybe you can reuse power supplies and the wifi card. But in a short while, you’ve replaced your 6 GB drive with a pair of 10 GB drives and then a 100 GB drive, and you’ve tossed your CD player for a DVD read-write disk and you just NEED external speakers to play games properly and you’re just so tired of that dot-matrix printer …
Anyhow, it’s been my experience that once you switch to a new CPU and mobo combination, you basically begin rebuilding quickly enough that all that new stuff becomes “a new computer.”
I’m ill, I know, but it’s a chronic condition.