Flaws in Intel, STMicroelectronics chips risk billions of devices

WASHINGTON: An international team of researchers has discovered serious security vulnerabilities in computer chips made by chip giant Intel and Geneva-based semiconductor manufacturer STMicroelectronics that has affected billions of laptop, server, tablet and desktop users globally.

The two vulnerabilities, which have now been addressed, would have allowed hackers to employ timing side-channel attacks to steal cryptographic keys that are supposed to remain safely inside the chips.