SoylentNews

takyon writes:

Intel Issues Updated Spectre Firmware Fixes For Newer Processors

Intel has issued updated microcode to help protect its newer processors from Spectre security exploits. The Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's new microcode updates – which impact its newer chip platforms, such as Kaby Lake, Coffee Lake, and Skylake – have been released to OEM customers and partners.

[...] The company initially released patches addressing the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities in January, but later yanked its patches for the Variant 2 flaw – both for client compute and data center chips – after acknowledging that they caused "higher than expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior." And while Intel last week announced it was re-issuing fixes for several Skylake-based platforms, the company had not given further details for its other newer processors – including Kaby Lake and Coffee Lake – until Tuesday.

First Intel, now AMD also faces multiple class-action suits over Spectre attacks

Intel rival AMD is also facing a number of class-action lawsuits over how it's responded to the Meltdown and Spectre CPU flaws. As The Register reports, four class-action complaints have been filed against the chip maker seeking damages on behalf of customers and investors. The suits follow a warning from AMD in late January that warned investors that it is "also subject to claims related to the recently disclosed side-channel exploits, such as Spectre and Meltdown, and may face claims or litigation for future vulnerabilities".

Intel revealed last week that it now faced 32 class-action lawsuits over its handling of the Meltdown and Spectre issues and three additional lawsuits over alleged insider trading.

Also at BetaNews.

Original Submission