Hi-Tech

All Macs, iOS devices affected by chip security flaws - Apple warns

January 07, 2018 12:51·
Apple admits all of its Macs iPhones and iPads are affected by chip security flaws

Apple admits all of its Macs iPhones and iPads are affected by chip security flaws

Intel said its chips, which power Macs and devices from other manufacturers, contain the flaw as well as processors based on ARM architecture, which is used in iOS devices and Android smartphones.

The security flaws, dubbed Meltdown and Spectre, affect nearly all devices running Intel, ARM and AMD processors, according to the researchers who revealed their findings.

"The Spectre attack manipulates the computer into a state where it believes it should do something that it should not do".

Given kernel memory is dedicated to the core components and interactions of an operating system with its hardware, it is said that the flaw could be exploited by malicious programmes, namely Meltdown or Spectre, to expose secured information such as passwords, and effectively compromise a targeted machine or indeed server network.

That threat has prompted Amazon, Apple, Google and Microsoft to push out software patches for Meltdown.

'Apple has already released mitigations in iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and tvOS 11.2 to help defend against Meltdown.

There's no complete software patch for Spectre right now, said Michael Daly, chief technology officer of cybersecurity and special missions at Raytheon, a defense company.

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But, make sure you install any software updates on your phone, tablet or computer. Browser makers Google, Microsoft and Mozilla all confirmed to Reuters that the patches they now have in place do not protect iOS users. The company said it will soon release a new version of its Safari web browser to protect customers against Spectre.

"All Mac systems and iOS devices are affected, but there are no known exploits impacting customers at this time", the tech giant said.

And Microsoft has already released fixes for many of its services. Chromebooks updated to Chrome OS 63, which started rolling out in mid-December, are already protected. Not only is the attack surface the biggest we've seen, with so many devices at risk globally, the exposure window is also huge as it is reliant on people voluntarily patching their systems, which obviously has a significant lag.

Users should only download apps from trusted sources to avoid being made vulnerable, the post said.

Another variant of Spectre, the company said, has "a near zero risk of exploitation" on its processors.

On Thursday, Intel's stock closed down 1.8 percent to $44.43 a share. It said that Apple Watch is not affected.

According to Intel, Krzanich's divestments were unrelated to the security flaws.

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