freebsd security - Jan 2018 - Intel hardware bug

In message <02563ce4-437c-ab96-54bb-a8b591900ba0 at FreeBSD.org>, 
Eric van Gyzen <vangyzen at FreeBSD.org> wrote:
>Wait until Tuesday before you explode.  Intel are now saying that it's
>not a "bug" in Intel CPUs.
Right.  "That's not a bug!  That's a feature!"

I say again:  Sheeeeeeeessssshhh!

Just within the last three months, we first had:

     "All your WPA2 WiFi are belong to us!"

and now, to add insult to injury, we get:

     "All your Intel *and* ARM CPUs are belong to us!"

Obviously, the enemy is what it has always been... complexity.  All this stuff
is just so hellishly complex nowadays that no single human can grasp and hold
even a significant fraction of these things in their minds at any one time.
The result is as inevitable as it is predictable.  Our machines are making us
substantially *less* secure.

But I guess that I personally don't have nearly as much reason to bitch and
moan as, for example, any origanization that managed or is managing some vast
fleet of WiFi hardware (HomeDepot?), or any of the cloud computing vendors who
have just seen perhaps 30% of their installed compute power go up in smoke,
virtually overnight.  If anybody has ample reason to be royally pissed off
about all of this nonsense, then it is surely those folks, more than me.


Regards,
rfg


P.S.  Right about now, I'd like to have a job working for whichever big ad
agency has the AMD account.  The ad copy for AMD's next marketing campaign 
practically writes itself... "Performance without penality!"

Hi,

On Wed, 03 Jan 2018 16:29:12 -0800
"Ronald F. Guilmette" <rfg at tristatelogic.com> wrote:
> In message <02563ce4-437c-ab96-54bb-a8b591900ba0 at FreeBSD.org>, 
> Eric van Gyzen <vangyzen at FreeBSD.org> wrote:
> 
> Obviously, the enemy is what it has always been... complexity.  All
I disagree. The problem started when Intel published the handbooks for
the 8086 with many thing 'reserved for future use' but nobody cared.

Intel used segments to separate things everybody hated.

Intel introduced later the rings, everybody ignored.

Instead of keeping the things separated - as suggested by Intel's
design - people used shortcuts whenever possible.

People would have had to think a bit more those days.

But Darwin was not sleeping and people have to think now.
> this stuff is just so hellishly complex nowadays that no single human
> can grasp and hold even a significant fraction of these things in
Because it is all mixed up as a huge mess instead of being separated
like Intel suggested in the Seventies and Eighties.
> P.S.  Right about now, I'd like to have a job working for whichever
> big ad agency has the AMD account.  The ad copy for AMD's next
> marketing campaign practically writes itself... "Performance without
> penality!"
Did you claim copyright?

Erich