OK, laying aside the issue of the extent to which these vulnerabilities can be patched with software, there is a different sort of issue. My desktop is entering into its 5th year and in the ordinary course of things I would be thinking about building a new one (although I must say, this one does everything I want it to do: it's an AMD).
But now it appears that virtually every cpu out there, including those in current inventory and those still rolling out of the foundries, has a built in flaw. So let's assume that the cpu engineers have to look at their designs and figure out how to do this sort of security better. Is this a deal, or a HUGE DEAL? A HUGE DEAL to me means a year or two of basic development, and then testing, and then incorporating the HUGE DEAL changes into the basic chip structure, adding the bells and whistles that would have been added anyhow (using the old way of doing things), then introducing the changed chip design, probably at the high end, and then having it percolate down into the budget levels where I have, over the years, tended to buy (~$150 to $250).
To me it sounds like the next generation of chips that address these flaws are probably five years out. If my current desktop were to last that long, it would be a first. It would be past the expiration date of support for my OS (Windows 8.1).
Similarly, my Samsung phone is entering into its third year. I give it another year or two at most.
So it seems to me that there is *no choice* but to *knowingly* buy compromised chips because that's all there is in inventory and that's all there will be given a four year product cycle, and that's probably optimistic.
So what's the work around? Choose a faster processor than I think I need in order to handle the security patches?
Or shut your eyes and pretend the problem doesn't exist? To give an example, my Samsung Galaxy S5 has no security updates ever. There are two reasons. One is that Samsung is very bad about updating its phones. But you can take the phone into Best Buy Samsung desk and they will update it. But not my Samsung. My Samsung is a Walmart Samsung and Samsung won't update it at their desk in Best Buy. Verizon and AT&T offer occasional updates to their phones, but Wal-Mart's Straight Talk never updates anything. So I've resolved that my next phone will be a Google phone and that I'll buy it from AT&T, and have some security updates both from Google and AT&T.
But in the meantime I just ignore the fact that I know the phone is insecure. I just don't do financial transactions from my phone and hope for the best.
It seems to me that's about where we are with the desktops. I do, however, use on-line banking from my desktop. That's probably unwise but I don't see giving it up any time soon.
Greg N
But now it appears that virtually every cpu out there, including those in current inventory and those still rolling out of the foundries, has a built in flaw. So let's assume that the cpu engineers have to look at their designs and figure out how to do this sort of security better. Is this a deal, or a HUGE DEAL? A HUGE DEAL to me means a year or two of basic development, and then testing, and then incorporating the HUGE DEAL changes into the basic chip structure, adding the bells and whistles that would have been added anyhow (using the old way of doing things), then introducing the changed chip design, probably at the high end, and then having it percolate down into the budget levels where I have, over the years, tended to buy (~$150 to $250).
To me it sounds like the next generation of chips that address these flaws are probably five years out. If my current desktop were to last that long, it would be a first. It would be past the expiration date of support for my OS (Windows 8.1).
Similarly, my Samsung phone is entering into its third year. I give it another year or two at most.
So it seems to me that there is *no choice* but to *knowingly* buy compromised chips because that's all there is in inventory and that's all there will be given a four year product cycle, and that's probably optimistic.
So what's the work around? Choose a faster processor than I think I need in order to handle the security patches?
Or shut your eyes and pretend the problem doesn't exist? To give an example, my Samsung Galaxy S5 has no security updates ever. There are two reasons. One is that Samsung is very bad about updating its phones. But you can take the phone into Best Buy Samsung desk and they will update it. But not my Samsung. My Samsung is a Walmart Samsung and Samsung won't update it at their desk in Best Buy. Verizon and AT&T offer occasional updates to their phones, but Wal-Mart's Straight Talk never updates anything. So I've resolved that my next phone will be a Google phone and that I'll buy it from AT&T, and have some security updates both from Google and AT&T.
But in the meantime I just ignore the fact that I know the phone is insecure. I just don't do financial transactions from my phone and hope for the best.
It seems to me that's about where we are with the desktops. I do, however, use on-line banking from my desktop. That's probably unwise but I don't see giving it up any time soon.
Greg N
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