[coreboot] Microcode updates for slightly older intel CPU's re: meltdown/spectre

[Alberto Bursi]

This assumes security was a concern in the first place, which is not 
what I see where I live/work.


On 01/11/2018 11:27 PM, Timothy Pearson wrote:
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> What I'm more concerned about right now is something I'd term "security
> apathy".  We just learned 99% of the world's computers are insecure in
> one way or another; security is now something that (to most people)
> apparently cannot be purchased.  In such an environment, the cheapest
> system per unit performance always wins, even if it happens to contain
> rampant abuses of privacy / backdoors.
>
> Probably a discussion best had over coffee, since it's largely
> unfixable, but suffice it to say we're already starting to see this even
> in our original customer base.
>
> On 01/11/2018 04:22 PM, Taiidan at gmx.com wrote:
>> On 01/11/2018 05:05 AM, Nico Huber wrote:
>>
>>> you seem to be misinformed about the G505s. There is no open-source gfx
>>> init for AMD (not in firmware, not in the OS), so within your require-
>>> ments it's not usable as a laptop.
>> I forgot to include my usual suffix mentioning that blobs are required
>> for video (and power management)
>>
>> I believe it is still much better than the C2D laptops in terms of
>> security despite the video blob as it has an IOMMU [1] and no ME/PSP.
>> [1] with the high end quad core CPU option
>>>> (as the previous C2D/C2Q's
>>>> such as the X200 are now permanently insecure without intervention from
>>>> intel apparently)
>>> It depends on the software you run. Please read more about Meltdown and
>>> Spectre. When you understood it, you can still start to worry.
>>>
>>>> At this point even a massive performance loss is better than having to
>>>> throw out so much now-useless hardware.
>>> Yes? and that can be accomplished without microcode updates, AFAIK.
>> I was and still am under the impression that fixing both issue classes
>> requires microcode updates, can you link to a better explanation?
>>
>
> - -- 
> Timothy Pearson
> Raptor Engineering
> +1 (415) 727-8645 (direct line)
> +1 (512) 690-0200 (switchboard)
> https://www.raptorengineering.com
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