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If one only considers power / speed and cost, then open will certainly mean worse. However a processor with verifiable functionality has value. It's more trust

If one only considers power / speed and cost, then open will certainly mean worse. However a processor with verifiable functionality has value. It's more trustworthy. It can be checked for accidental, or deliberate, security flaws. In many scenarios, I don't care how fast a processor is, if it's leaking data then it's worthless.

therealmarv 9y ago
For me this is an extreme view. If your security demands are that high I'm sure you will find even nowadays CPUs which are in that level of "trustworthyness" you want. One funny example: You can use a Raspberry Pi which is not affected by Meltdown or Spectre ;) https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/why-raspberry-pi-isnt-vulnerable-to-spectre-or-meltdown/ https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/why-raspberry-pi-isnt-vulne...
- detaro 9y ago
  > For me this is an extreme view. Agreed, but for critical applications it might be appropriate. > If your security demands are that high I'm sure you will find even nowadays CPUs which are in that level of "trustworthyness" you want. One funny example: You can use a Raspberry Pi which is not affected by Meltdown or Spectre ;) Having the level of verificability the parent asks for is a lot more than "not affected by Spectre", and the Raspberry Pi is not very open in that regard.
- DarqWebster 9y ago
  I understand that security is difficult, and that one can never be completely secure. But is wanting to know what my processor is doing, or wanting it to be free of undocumented, obfuscated, proprietary code that runs at a higher priority than any software, really that extreme a view? We base so much of human progress on these little wafers of silicon, it shouldn't be extreme to want to know what they do.
  - gatmne 9y ago
    >We base so much of human progress on these little wafers of silicon, it shouldn't be extreme to want to know what they do. Well said. I'll add that security is a threshold, and that computer systems are extremely complex. Every bit of openness -and the verifiability such openness affords- brings us closer to that ideal secure system.
bastawhiz 9y ago
> However a processor with verifiable functionality has value. It's more trustworthy. It can be checked for accidental, or deliberate, security flaws. Is this tractable for a chip with billions of transistors? I would think the people qualified for this already work at chip companies and are doing the work for a stable salary.

therealmarv 9y ago

For me this is an extreme view. If your security demands are that high I'm sure you will find even nowadays CPUs which are in that level of "trustworthyness" you want. One funny example: You can use a Raspberry Pi which is not affected by Meltdown or Spectre ;) https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/why-raspberry-pi-isnt-vulnerable-to-spectre-or-meltdown/ https://www.raspberrypi.org/blog/why-raspberry-pi-isnt-vulne...

detaro 9y ago
> For me this is an extreme view. Agreed, but for critical applications it might be appropriate. > If your security demands are that high I'm sure you will find even nowadays CPUs which are in that level of "trustworthyness" you want. One funny example: You can use a Raspberry Pi which is not affected by Meltdown or Spectre ;) Having the level of verificability the parent asks for is a lot more than "not affected by Spectre", and the Raspberry Pi is not very open in that regard.
DarqWebster 9y ago
I understand that security is difficult, and that one can never be completely secure. But is wanting to know what my processor is doing, or wanting it to be free of undocumented, obfuscated, proprietary code that runs at a higher priority than any software, really that extreme a view? We base so much of human progress on these little wafers of silicon, it shouldn't be extreme to want to know what they do.
- gatmne 9y ago
  >We base so much of human progress on these little wafers of silicon, it shouldn't be extreme to want to know what they do. Well said. I'll add that security is a threshold, and that computer systems are extremely complex. Every bit of openness -and the verifiability such openness affords- brings us closer to that ideal secure system.

bastawhiz 9y ago

> However a processor with verifiable functionality has value. It's more trustworthy. It can be checked for accidental, or deliberate, security flaws. Is this tractable for a chip with billions of transistors? I would think the people qualified for this already work at chip companies and are doing the work for a stable salary.