Researchers have discovered two major security flaws in the microprocessors inside nearly all of the world’s computers that allow hackers to steal the entire memory contents of computers, including mobile devices, personal computers, and servers running in so-called cloud computer networks. There are not great solutions for the two problems, called Meltdown and Spectre. There is no easy fix at all for Spectre, and it could require redesigning the processors, according to The New York Times. The software patch needed to fix Meltdown could slow down computers by as much as 30 percent, which would be a bad solution for people used to fast downloads. Meltdown is particularly an issue for the cloud computing services run by places like Amazon, Google and Microsoft. By Wednesday morning, Google and Microsoft have said that they updated their systems to deal with the flaw. To utilize Meltdown, hackers could rent space on a cloud service and then the flaw would allow them to grab information like passwords from other costumers. According to the researchers and The Times, the Meltdown flaw affects virtually every microprocessor made by Intel. Intel makes chips used in more than 90 percent of the computer servers that underpin the internet and private business operations, writes The Times. There is no evidence that hackers have taken advantage of these flaws — yet.
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