As you know, we have been tracking the latest discovery of Meltdown and Spectre. These are two recent discovered flaws found in all computers across the world that are leaving computers open and vulnerable.
Companies released patches in hopes to distinguish the problem but it did just the opposite. Many reported that their machines slowed down or stopped working when they applied Intel's updates.
Intel responded saying they now know more than they knew before and can now develop fresh patches that will work better.
Intel spokesperson Navin Shenoy said they have been investigating why the first set of patches caused "higher-than-expected reboots and other unpredictable system behavior".
When Intel first released the new patches they disclaimed that the new patch could slow computers down up to 30%. Intel's own tests now suggest that computers will slow down anywhere from 2-25%.
After researching what causes the patches to make computers unstable has led it to advise people to stop applying these updates.
Now Intel is advising that everyone should start testing early versions of the new patches which it has already started sharing.
This flaw is predicted to impact computer sales as people begin to purchase new hardware. It is predicted that customers will push off purchasing till there are no longer any computers that are vulnerable.
Rather than changing the underlying hardware straight away, Intel plans to continue fixing one variant of Spectre via Software.
The Meltdown and Spectre bugs came to light in early January and emerge because of the way that computer chips handle data. In particular, these flaws target methods used to speed up processing which if abused, could let attackers steal important data such as encryption keys or passwords.
Many software and hardware firms have produced patches that attempt to stop the bugs being exploited.
Microsoft advised people with computers that use AMD chips against applying its patch because it could stop the machines working. IT fixed the patch and re-issued it soon afterwards.
