Microsoft Releases Emergency Update to Stop Protection Against Spectre
Recent reports have revealed that in response to Intel's buggy software update for the protection against Spectre, Microsoft was forced to release an emergency update. It is meant to address the drawbacks of updating the firmware to the latest Intel update and to stop what is causing some systems to reboot and possibly get corrupted data.
"Our own experience is that system instability can in some circumstances cause data loss or corruption," said Microsoft in a statement. "On Jan. 22, Intel recommended that customers stop deploying the current microcode version on affected processors while they perform additional testing on the updated solution. We understand that Intel is continuing to investigate the potential effect of the current microcode version, and we encourage customers to review their guidance on an ongoing basis to inform their decisions."
Following this statement, further reports reveal that the update was meant to stop systems from upgrading to the latest firmware from Intel so as to prevent the unintentional and random rebooting as well as the danger of losing and corrupting data. The update is for Windows 7, Windows 8.1, and Windows 10 systems, and installing it will disable the protection against the Spectre variant 2 until Intel can find a solution to the problems of their firmware upgrades. It was released as part of the Windows Update catalogue, which means that users will have to download and install it manually.
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Considering the dangers of Spectre, Microsoft has appropriately responded by released two emergency updates since the time it was revealed. Despite this, users hold out hope that Intel will be able to figure it out soon enough. As such, more information is expected to be released in the coming months and fans are advised to stay tuned for more updates. In the meantime, the emergency update for Windows systems is now available for download.
