After reading this headline, you will probably think that there have been some anomalous phenomena, magnetic storms or other cataclysms that have affected the computers of the world. But in fact, it’s all Intel’s fault.
The fact is that Intel company specialists found some (yes, that’s what it’s reported, because all cards won’t reveal to us) vulnerability in processors called Downfall. I will try to explain in simple words. The vulnerability could allow attackers to gain access to programs that should not be accessible.
Computers have slowed down all over the world. What happened?
A senior Google researcher named Mogami demonstrated gaining access to 128 and 256 bit AEC keys. You can also monitor what the user types on the keyboard and get a large amount of data from the Linux kernel.
And all this through the firmware of the central processor with the help of an ordinary computer virus. With that, Intel released a microcode update that fixes the bug, but slows down processors that were released between 2015 and 2019.
The update applies to Skylake 6th generation and Rocket Lake with Tiger Lake 11th generation. In fact, in order not to become a victim of hacking, you need to update the microcode on all Intel processors, except for the modern Raptor Lake, Sapphire Rapids and Alder Lake.
The drop in productivity can range from 11 to 39%
Firmware updates are possible via UEFI, but this is mostly handled by the operating system. A number of sources claim that Windows users should not be afraid, most of the vulnerabilities are found under Linux, but this microcode update may appear in Windows updates in the near future. Therefore, do not be especially surprised if your computer will work more slowly. But it is not yet known whether this update has appeared for Windows.
Of course, corporate users will suffer the most here – the vulnerability is quite serious and can lead to data loss. They will be the first to update the microcode on their PCs. If the microcode was updated through the operating system, it can almost always be removed.
Source: https://itechua.com/