Hello!
You might see some sensational headlines in the papers in the next day or so claiming things like…

  • Microsoft slows your computer down 30%, here’s why
  • Your computer 30% slower…
  • Hackers can hack your CPU
  • MASSIVE security flaw in Intel CPUs
  • etc…

What’s a CPU?

The CPU or Central Processing Unit is the thing that does lots of calculations and follows your instructions, every key press, mouse move or thing shown on your screen goes through the CPU. The speed of the CPU (usually measured in GHz) is one of the key things to look at when buying a new PC, so you might see it listed as an Intel Pentium 3.3GHz.

Intel is the biggest maker of CPUs.

What’s actually the problem?

Researchers have found that most Intel CPUs have a problem that could allow an attacker to view all information being passed through the CPU, this includes passwords and other secrets.

It’s been known about by security specialists for a few months now and they have been secretly working on fixing it.

The easiest fix is for everyone with an Intel CPU to replace theirs, however, that’s just not going to happen there are millions if not billions of these all over the world. So they have gone for a software fix (think Windows Updates) but the side effect of this is to slow your computer down by up to 30%…

What does it affect

Any device using an Intel CPU, most Windows and Mac computers along with some mobiles/tablets.

Mike’s take on all of this

For everyday users, the general feeling is that they won’t notice much difference. If you are video editing or using specialist software then it might feel a little slower.

What can I do?

I can’t stress enough that even if you are worried about a 30% drop in speed (which is unlikely, current estimates are between 5% and 30%) you should install all Windows Updates (and any other updates across your devices).

As ever, if you have any questions please drop us a note.
Thanks!
Mike 🙂
Photo by Alexandru-Bogdan Ghita on Unsplash