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Hi I'm a mostly average Linux user just now learning about these hardware vulnerabilities as I'm planning on building a new computer. What new processor should

Hi I'm a mostly average Linux user just now learning about these hardware vulnerabilities as I'm planning on building a new computer. What new processor should I buy that has the best chance of being safe when all this dust clears? I first posted this question on a thread about Intel ME. Have processors always been this tricky security-wise or are these low level exploits we're finding a recent phenomena?

m-p-3 9y ago
You could go with AMD which is seemingly immune to Meltdown, but apparently someone already found a security flaw with their PSP (aka their own Intel ME).
- internalfx 9y ago
  If you need security and it doesn't need to be fast, use a raspberry pi. No ME, no PSP, no meltdown, and no spectre.
  - pritambaral 9y ago
    The firmware driving the VC4 on an RPi is non-free and closed, and the VC4 runs with greater privilege than the ARM core, with access to all the RAM. This firmware may not have security bugs like the ME and the PSP have had, and it may not contain a backdoor that we know of, but technically there's nothing stopping it from having one without anyone in the public knowing it. Still, no Meltdown and no Spectre on any RPi
- clarry 9y ago
  I've seen rumors that new bios/uefi versions have a toggle to disable PSP. So AMD looks like a fair choice if this is true.
brudgers 9y ago
My opinion is that it doesn't matter which processor you buy because you will have the same important dependencies irregardless. Intel or AMD, you will depend on the expertise of the operating system designers, the chip manufacturer, and the trustworthiness of the code you run. The presence of disclosed vulnerabilities in Intel chips does not reduce the probability of undisclosed or undiscovered vulnerabilities in AMD chips. The number of possible vulnerabilities in AMD chips is a very large number. The number of possible vulnerabilities in Intel chips is a similarly large number. Basically the choice between Intel and AMD in the context of in-chip vulnerabilities comes down to whether one feels better choosing a chip with known vulnerabilities + significant effort to mitigate or a chip without known vulnerabilities and without significant efforts at mitigation. In both cases, unknown vulnerabilities are probably equal. To put it another way, building a computer is largely a consumer process not a technical one. The biggest security risk is software you download and run, not hardware flaws (e.g. rowhammer)
tokenizerrr 9y ago
Wait a few months if you can.
- dentemple 9y ago
  More like two years.
  - tokenizerrr 9y ago
    I meant for the details to settle. But if you mean for non-vulnerable CPUs to come out, yeah...
danaliv 9y ago
MC68030. /s

m-p-3 9y ago

You could go with AMD which is seemingly immune to Meltdown, but apparently someone already found a security flaw with their PSP (aka their own Intel ME).

internalfx 9y ago
If you need security and it doesn't need to be fast, use a raspberry pi. No ME, no PSP, no meltdown, and no spectre.
- pritambaral 9y ago
  The firmware driving the VC4 on an RPi is non-free and closed, and the VC4 runs with greater privilege than the ARM core, with access to all the RAM. This firmware may not have security bugs like the ME and the PSP have had, and it may not contain a backdoor that we know of, but technically there's nothing stopping it from having one without anyone in the public knowing it. Still, no Meltdown and no Spectre on any RPi
clarry 9y ago
I've seen rumors that new bios/uefi versions have a toggle to disable PSP. So AMD looks like a fair choice if this is true.

brudgers 9y ago

My opinion is that it doesn't matter which processor you buy because you will have the same important dependencies irregardless. Intel or AMD, you will depend on the expertise of the operating system designers, the chip manufacturer, and the trustworthiness of the code you run. The presence of disclosed vulnerabilities in Intel chips does not reduce the probability of undisclosed or undiscovered vulnerabilities in AMD chips. The number of possible vulnerabilities in AMD chips is a very large number. The number of possible vulnerabilities in Intel chips is a similarly large number. Basically the choice between Intel and AMD in the context of in-chip vulnerabilities comes down to whether one feels better choosing a chip with known vulnerabilities + significant effort to mitigate or a chip without known vulnerabilities and without significant efforts at mitigation. In both cases, unknown vulnerabilities are probably equal. To put it another way, building a computer is largely a consumer process not a technical one. The biggest security risk is software you download and run, not hardware flaws (e.g. rowhammer)

tokenizerrr 9y ago

Wait a few months if you can.

dentemple 9y ago
More like two years.
- tokenizerrr 9y ago
  I meant for the details to settle. But if you mean for non-vulnerable CPUs to come out, yeah...

danaliv 9y ago

MC68030. /s