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Phoenix666 [soylentnews.org] writes:

Phys.org [phys.org]:

Recently, security researchers have found that some innovations have let secrets flow freely out of computer hardware the same way software vulnerabilities have led to cyberattacks and data breaches. The best known recent examples were the chip flaws [medium.com] nicknamed [meltdownattack.com] Spectre and Meltdown [theregister.co.uk] that affected billions of computers [techcrunch.com], smartphones and other electronic devices. On July 10, researchers announced they discovered new variants [arxiv.org] of those flaws [bleepingcomputer.com] exploiting the same fundamental leaks in the majority of microprocessors manufactured within the last 20 years.

This realization has led to calls from microchip industry leaders, including icons John Hennessy and David Patterson [sigarch.org], for a complete rethinking of computer architecture to put security first [iscaconf.org]. I have been a researcher in the computer architecture field for 15 years – as a graduate student and professor, with stints in industry research organizations – and conduct research in power-management [google.com], microarchitecture and security. It's not the first time designers have had to reevaluate everything they were doing. However, this awakening requires a faster and more significant change to restore users' trust in hardware security without ruining devices' performance and battery life.

Is Open Hardware the answer?

Original Submission