14 DAY TRIAL // Intel released a statement on Thursday to inform us all that it has found new methods to protect its future processors against the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities that were unearthed earlier this year.
As you must be aware by now, earlier this year, two major security vulnerabilities were publicly disclosed by Google Project Zero and security researchers from various universities across the globe, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, which put billions of devices at risk of attacks, including most of Intel processors and any other device powered by a modern CPU.
Intel, like many other chip manufacturers, were made aware of the vulnerabilities in time to patch its processors against Meltdown and Spectre. But it's a job that will take some time, especially because Spectre has two variants and it's harder to fix than Meltdown, which was quickly addressed through software mitigations.
While Intel continues to work hard to release Spectre mitigations for all its processors released in the past two decades, the company announced today that it discovered a method to protect its future chips against these type of hardware bugs, through a so-called "partitioning" method that stands between privilege levels and apps.
"We have redesigned parts of the processor to introduce new levels of protection through partitioning that will protect against both Variants 2 and 3. Think of this partitioning as additional “protective walls” between applications and user privilege levels to create an obstacle for bad actors," explained Brian Krzanich, CEO of Intel Corporation.
Intel to release the first Spectre-proof chips in Q2 2018
According to Intel's Brian Krzanich, the company plans to release the 8th generation of its Intel Core processors in the second half of 2018, along with the next-generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors dubbed "Cascade Lake," which will be the first to come with the said partitioning method against Spectre Variant 1 and 2.
Keeping its chips secure and performant at the same time is a long-term commitment, said Intel's Krzanich, who urges all users to keep their systems up-to-date at all times as more microcode firmware updates are coming for its processors in the next few months, and it's the best and easiest ways to ensure you're always protected.
