tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today
Arab Today, arab today
Last Updated : GMT 06:49:16
Arab Today, arab today

the race is on to limit the damage

Tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw

Arab Today, arab today

Arab Today, arab today Tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw

The race is on to fix security flaws in computer chips.
Paris - Arab Today

Amazon, Google and now Apple... as the list of digital giants hit by the "Spectre" and "Meltdown" computer security flaws grows longer, the race is on to limit the damage.

"All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time," Apple -- whose devices are usually regarded as secure -- said in a post on an online support page on Thursday.

Amost all microprocessors produced over the past 10 years by Intel, AMD and ARM are affected. No PC or mobile device can function without the miniature components that are effectively nerve centres for executing computer programmes and apps.

And that is what distinguishes them from previous security alerts that have tended to involve software rather than hardware.

In theory, Spectre and Meltdown could enable a user to "access kernel level memory access, exposing critical information that would be stored there, like system passwords," said Chris Morales, head of security analytics at Vectra.

Luke Wagner, a software engineer at Mozilla, wrote on a security blog that it was "possible to use similar techniques from web content to read private information".

Effectively, all electronic devices manufactured all around the world in recent years contain potentially vulnerable chips.

The biggest names in the sector, including Amazon, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla, are now rushing out updates and patches to eliminate the flaw.

US giant Intel, as well as its rivals AMD and ARM, have started installing updates.

In a statement on Thurday, Intel said it and its partners "have made significant progress in deploying updates" to mitigate any threats.

"Intel expects to have issued updates for more than 90 percent of processor products introduced within the past five years," an Intel statement said.

"In addition, many operating system vendors, public cloud service providers, device manufacturers and others have indicated that they have already updated their products and services."

Apple, for its part, advised only getting apps from its online App Store which vets programmes for safety, and said it has already released some "mitigations" to protect against the exploit and planned to release a defensive update for Safari on macOS and iOS in the coming days.

Difficult to exploit?

But some experts believe that the only real "fix" in some cases would be replacing the chip itself, which would be a huge issue for the computing industry.

That said, the experts concede that hacking the chips would require a very high level of technical expertise and the risks were therefore limited.

The US Computer Emergency Readiness Team (CERT) said that it was "not aware of any active exploitation at this time."

In Germany, the BSI Federal Office for Information Security, similarly found no evidence of any "active exploitation" of the flaw, but still sector players to protect themselves "as quickly as possible."

In addition to the security flaw, Intel found itself in hot water Friday over the announcement that its chief executive had sold some of his shares in the company.

According to the specialist magazine Solutions Numeriques, Intel was aware of the existence of the security flaw in its chips at the end of November. But in the fourth quarter of last year, CEO Brian Krzanich sold nearly 900,000 shares, halving his stake in the company, according to Bloomberg.

A company spokesman told Bloomberg that the sale had nothing to do with the issue of the security flaw, insisting that Krzanich had exercised options according to a pre-set timetable agreed long before.

Intel shares lost nearly two percent to close at $44.43 on Thursday, after already dropping 3.4 percent the day before.

 

Source: AFP

arabstoday
arabstoday

GMT 03:08 2018 Wednesday ,24 January

Microsoft to open 4 data centres

GMT 04:04 2018 Sunday ,21 January

Europe's space agency braces

GMT 02:55 2018 Thursday ,18 January

French glitches put technology under review

GMT 02:22 2018 Wednesday ,17 January

Bitcoin bombs, cryptocoins crash

GMT 04:03 2017 Sunday ,24 December

Thirsty rocks may contain
Arab Today, arab today

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw

 



Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw tech firms battle to resolve major security flaw

 



GMT 23:04 2017 Monday ,04 December

Saudi Arabia recalls ambassador to Germany

GMT 02:47 2014 Monday ,17 November

Qatar Library to take part in Conference

GMT 18:17 2018 Friday ,07 September

US Defence Secretary arrives in Kabul

GMT 03:28 2018 Sunday ,21 January

Emirates throws Airbus A380 a lifeline

GMT 15:20 2017 Wednesday ,20 December

Oman Arab Bank launches advanced automation system

GMT 04:56 2017 Thursday ,22 June

ASEAN journalists conclude silk road media journey

GMT 08:08 2015 Thursday ,05 November

UAE media has matured, delivered remarkable successes

GMT 22:37 2016 Thursday ,17 November

Japan aims to increase food exports to GCC

GMT 08:40 2013 Saturday ,02 February

Saladin

GMT 00:12 2016 Sunday ,01 May

December 21 - January 18

GMT 05:35 2017 Wednesday ,25 October

Rio policeman who killed Spanish tourist charged

GMT 01:15 2014 Friday ,24 January

Little Known Facts

GMT 09:03 2013 Tuesday ,09 July

Fathy Abdel Wahab works on social issues drama

GMT 19:13 2017 Sunday ,16 April

Iraqi MP calls government to cut oil from Jordan

GMT 21:38 2017 Wednesday ,12 July

Israeli occupation forces arrest 21 Palestinians

GMT 04:59 2015 Wednesday ,28 October

Saudi blogger flogging to resume

GMT 14:24 2016 Wednesday ,14 December

Wonder Woman loses UN job after protests

GMT 14:28 2017 Saturday ,13 May

Tunisia can repay 53% of its debts
Arab Today, arab today
 
 Arab Today Facebook,arab today facebook  Arab Today Twitter,arab today twitter Arab Today Rss,arab today rss  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube  Arab Today Youtube,arab today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday arabstoday arabstoday
arabstoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
arabstoday, Arabstoday, Arabstoday