Google security patches don't slow systems

Google says its already developed patches to protect it against security flaws that would allow a hacker to steal passwords and memory.

Alphabet Inc's Google says it has already deployed software patches against the Spectre and Meltdown chipset security flaws last year, without slowing down its cloud services.

The flaws, which affect chips from Intel, AMD and ARM, allow hackers to read a computer's memory and steal passwords, putting virtually all phones, computers and servers at risk.

Researchers with Google's Project Zero, in conjunction with academic and industry researchers from several countries, first reported the flaws publicly on January 3, but major tech firms have said they knew about the flaws months ago.

Google said it started deploying patches for Meltdown and one variant of Spectre in September, and by December created a patch for Variant 2 of Spectre, which is more difficult to fix without slowing down systems.

"This set of vulnerabilities was perhaps the most challenging and hardest to fix in a decade," Google executive Ben Treynor Sloss said in a blog post.

Microsoft has also released patches for the flaws, but earlier this week admitted that its Spectre Variant 2 patch slowed down some personal computers and servers, with systems running on older Intel Corp processors seeing a noticeable decrease in performance.

Intel said on Thursday it would issue patches for 90 per cent of the chips less than five-years-old by January 15 and will then focus on providing patches for the older chips.


Share

2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world