Post #3610617
2026-07-05 18:09 UTC
It's not just #Spectre and #Meltdown — dozens of similar CPU bugs have been discovered since 2018, and they're still being found:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transient_execution_CPU_vulnerability
The foundations of modern computing are ricketier than we like to imagine.
In the past, I've always bought a decent computer and held on to it for years and years: it saves money and it's the green thing you do. My main machine right now is seven years old and still going strong. Updating the OS and apps is no problem — I run #Linux. But #CPU bugs make me wonder whether I should replace computers more often for security reasons. I really hope not.
Replies (2)
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@millihertz@oldbytes.space 2026-07-05 18:51
@CppGuy@infosec.space go the other way: never update them. new CPUs just aren't worth the trouble.
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@andrew_meir@mastodon.social 2026-07-05 20:28
@CppGuy@infosec.space it’s good news and bad news. The good news: CISC architecture CPUs run their own firmware/microcode to implement a lot of that complexity, and some vulnerabilities can be patched. The bad news: RISC architectures tend not to, thus any chip-level vulnerabilities need a hardware fix. As an engineer, I tend to the view that the more complex a system or component is, the more failure modes it’s got. Give me RISC any day. To be even more specific, give me ARM 😎