U.S. lawmaker asks Intel, others for briefing on chip flaws (updated)

SB Technology

17/01/2018 01:40

(Adds comments from Intel and Arm) 
    By Dustin Volz 
    WASHINGTON, Jan 16 (Reuters) - A Democratic U.S. lawmaker 
asked Intel Corp  INTC.O  and two other microchip makers on 
Tuesday to provide a briefing on the recently detected Spectre 
and Meltdown security flaws that could allow hackers to steal 
information from most computers and devices. 
    "I am looking to better understand the nature of these 
critical vulnerabilities, the danger they pose to consumers, and 
what steps your companies plan to take to protect consumers," 
California Representative Jerry McNerney wrote to the chief 
executives of Intel, Softbank-owned Arm Holdings  4726.T  and 
Advanced Micro Devices  AMD.O . 
    "The security of our customers' systems and data is a top 
priority for Intel," the Santa Clara-based company said in a 
statement to Reuters. "We share Congressman McNerney's interest 
in these important issues and will continue to engage with a 
variety of Congressional and Executive Branch officials to 
address how the industry can best respond." 
    Arm said it had responded to the briefing request.  
    "Arm appreciates Congressman McNerney's long record of work 
on cybersecurity issues, has responded to his office to discuss 
next steps, and looks forward to a dialogue on our mutual goal 
of creating more secure devices," the company said in a 
statement. 
    AMD did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 
    The request is one of the first responses from the U.S. 
Congress to the disclosure earlier this month by security 
researchers of the two major flaws, which may allow hackers to 
steal passwords or encryption keys on most types of computers, 
phones and cloud-based servers.  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL4N1OZ3VU urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nL1N1P701O 
    McNerney, a member of the House Energy and Commerce 
Committee, asked the companies to explain the scope of Spectre 
and Meltdown, their timeframe for understanding the 
vulnerabilities, how consumers are affected and whether the 
flaws have been exploited, among other questions. 
 
 
 (Reporting by Dustin Volz in Washington; Additional reporting 
by Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Richard Chang) 
 ((Dustin.Volz@thomsonreuters.com; 202-898-8415;)) 
 
Keywords: USA CYBER/MICROSHIPS CONGRESS