4 ms·

Given what is currently known today (there may be more bombshells yet to come) about x86 system- and chip-level vulnerabilities, both unintentional and intentio

Given what is currently known today (there may be more bombshells yet to come) about x86 system- and chip-level vulnerabilities, both unintentional and intentional, I'm not sure that any sane CxO would allow their data to come anywhere near the platform if they were starting all over today again from scratch. Not that I would necessarily trust any other vendor either (especially not Microsoft), but still ... Always remember (and don't ever forget) that the only reason most of us have even heard of Intel and Microsoft is because of their relationship to IBM back in the day. They weren't chosen, nor did they ascend to great heights, based the quality of their products. Rather IBM chose them mostly for the sake of its own convenience, and then they leveraged that relationship to the hilt.

rodgerd 8y ago
s390x is subject to speculative execution attacks, just like x86_64. Your position appears to be rooted in superstition, rather than facts.
- southern_cross 8y ago
  Indeed, but what is Intel up to these days - at least eight different variations of attack here? And let's not forget about the whole Intel ME thing, either. BTW, just because a speculative execution attack or whatever is theoretically possible on an IBM system doesn't necessarily mean that it can be carried out in any practical sense, given the overall design of those systems and their general level of built-in security. But IBM can't just sit there and ignore the possibility, either. Another problem they have these days relates to open source software and such, which they've been porting to their platforms much more lately. If a security patch for that software comes out then they still have to apply it, even if there may be no practical way to exploit it on their systems. And it can be quite unnerving to see long lists of such patches show up on a regular basis for systems which are otherwise generally considered to be rock solid.

rodgerd 8y ago

s390x is subject to speculative execution attacks, just like x86_64. Your position appears to be rooted in superstition, rather than facts.

southern_cross 8y ago
Indeed, but what is Intel up to these days - at least eight different variations of attack here? And let's not forget about the whole Intel ME thing, either. BTW, just because a speculative execution attack or whatever is theoretically possible on an IBM system doesn't necessarily mean that it can be carried out in any practical sense, given the overall design of those systems and their general level of built-in security. But IBM can't just sit there and ignore the possibility, either. Another problem they have these days relates to open source software and such, which they've been porting to their platforms much more lately. If a security patch for that software comes out then they still have to apply it, even if there may be no practical way to exploit it on their systems. And it can be quite unnerving to see long lists of such patches show up on a regular basis for systems which are otherwise generally considered to be rock solid.