We May Have to Wait Longer for an Intel Patch to Fix Spectre and Meltdown

According to recent updates on the newest CPU patches for the security issues associated with Intel chips, some are either too taxing on performance and others simply make the computer go into a constant boot loop where the computer can no longer function.

While these updates might work on some systems, the patch itself isn’t robust enough to completely deal with the problem. Which is why Intel is now going back to the drawing board and attempting to solve the problem with a “fresh” security patch. The company is telling customers to not install the recent releases while they are working on a new one that should suffice. Those who are experiencing problems with their computer after installing the “fix” should revert the BIOS to the prior version, since this newly release one is unstable.

Although the company’s candor appears sincere, many technologists are claiming that their efforts are poor to say the least. The main issue is at the hardware level within the processor’s architecture. This hardware vulnerability was discovered earlier this month and while Intel has rolled out some “fixes” for the architectural flaw, they have proved quite useless with other side effects.

Bob Noel, director of strategic relationships and marketing for Plixer said he was also concerned about Intel’s patching woes because “the current unstable code for the Spectre and Meltdown CPU patches leaves end users vulnerable with no available options other than to wait for a stable fix.”

The (hopefully working) update might take another couple of weeks to push out. Until then, we need to continue to wait.