November 10, 2023 at 05:15PM
A class-action complaint has been filed against Intel alleging that the chip giant knew about data-leaking bugs in its CPUs years before releasing any fixes. The complaint argues that Intel’s negligence could have significant implications for the technology industry. However, determining legal liability may be complicated. The recently discovered Downfall bug allowed attackers to gain access to privileged information from other users in a shared computing environment using vulnerable instructions in Intel’s CPUs. Intel released a patch for Downfall, but it reportedly slows down processing speeds significantly. The prosecution is seeking monetary relief against Intel.
Meeting Takeaways:
– A class-action complaint has been filed against Intel for its handling of data-leaking bugs in its CPUs.
– The complaint alleges that Intel knew about the faulty instructions that led to the “Downfall” bug years before releasing a fix.
– Determining whether Intel’s negligence constitutes a legal offense could have significant implications for the technology industry.
– The lawsuit highlights a vulnerability disclosure in 2018, which Intel allegedly did not address in subsequent years, prioritizing profits over fixing defective CPUs.
– Intel released a patch for the Downfall bug but the complaint argues that it slows down processing speeds significantly.
– The prosecution is seeking monetary relief against Intel.
– The legal liability threshold for poor vulnerability remediation is not clearly defined by law.
– The complexity and limited consequences of the side-channel bug may make the case against Intel less clear-cut.
– The law firm representing the prosecution declined to comment, and Intel has not responded to inquiries at this time.