6 Lessons from the CPU Meltdown

The chief technologist of a computer hardware and software company shares some basic principles for plugging the security gaps in the next Meltdown or Spectre.

In January, Intel surprised us all with the news that it's Meltdown and Spectre CPU firmware patches were no good. The instructions were to immediately cease distributing and uploading the firmware patches.

Unfortunately, people who had downloaded the patch could not uninstall it, creating endless reboots and unpredictable system behavior. Now even AMD has joined the debacle as it faces class action lawsuits over how it responded to the flaws.

Some OEMs were better prepared than others with dedicated labs and processes to test patches before they are implemented. Others, not so much. But there are a few things we can do to help protect our customers and ourselves.

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