<story><title>Side channel that leaked data from Intel CPUs patched by silent Windows update</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/silent-windows-update-patched-side-channel-that-leaked-data-from-intel-cpus/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>tinco</author><text>I know these problems are serious, but I feel there is a fun and reassuring aspect to them. Back in the 90s and early 2000s we thought anything can be hacked by any clever person. Then the 2010s happened and almost all software, even Windows, became near unassailable fortresses, especially systems like iOS with their tight control of the OS. Sure, a 0day drops every now and then, but we all know that it&amp;#x27;s basically impossible to attack a modern well configured system.&lt;p&gt;These hardware bugs turn that idea on its head, suddenly the whole ghost in the shell hacker style dream is again a possibility. A motivated person or group of persons might go and hack any system out there. And that&amp;#x27;s really a bit reassuring, it&amp;#x27;s a little bit scary to think about how our lives might be ruled by these systems that are unassailable. I&amp;#x27;d like to at least stand a chance when technology turns on us.</text></comment>
<story><title>Side channel that leaked data from Intel CPUs patched by silent Windows update</title><url>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2019/08/silent-windows-update-patched-side-channel-that-leaked-data-from-intel-cpus/</url></story><parent_chain></parent_chain><comment><author>edwintorok</author><text>As mentioned in the article more technical details can be found in the linked article: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bitdefender.com&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;swapgs-attack.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.bitdefender.com&amp;#x2F;business&amp;#x2F;swapgs-attack.html&lt;/a&gt;&lt;p&gt;Worth pointing out that Xen is not vulnerable to the swapgs attack due to a lucky design decision from a decade ago: &lt;a href=&quot;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lists.xenproject.org&amp;#x2F;archives&amp;#x2F;html&amp;#x2F;xen-devel&amp;#x2F;2019-08&amp;#x2F;msg00507.html&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;https:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;lists.xenproject.org&amp;#x2F;archives&amp;#x2F;html&amp;#x2F;xen-devel&amp;#x2F;2019-08...&lt;/a&gt;</text></comment>