New virus attacks AMD processors

Vox Populi Vox Dei

Vox Populi Vox Dei

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Is this the creation of a disgruntled Intel user? :rolleyes:

Computing UK

Security researchers at Symantec have discovered a new proof of concept virus that targets processors AMD rather than operating systems.

The worm comes in two versions, targeting 32-bit and 64-bit processors from AMD. Symantec refers to the online pests as w32.bounds and w64.bounds. Because it involves proof of concept code, both viruses are rated as low level threats.

Although at this point it concerns harmless proof of concept code, the virus could be used as a starting point for creating malware that affects computers regardless of the operating system that they run, cautioned Vincent Weafer, senior director of Symantec's Security Response Group.

"If I can get to the processor level, potentially I can really start tying myself into the core hardware. I can potentially evade some of the kernel protection and user protection. There is an attraction to virus writers to get to the lowest level possible," Weafer told vnunet.com.
Click to expand...
 
w32 version mentions only various Windows operating systems. w64 version mentions AMD64, but then AMD created the 64 bit standard so it might well affect any Intel 64 bit processors that might exist.

It doesn't sound like the report is necessarily accurate or believable. Does the author actually understand how it works or is this the same horror story scaremongering we see in newspapers everyday when journalists right articles on topics of which they have no understanding?
 
Why design a virus to go after a second rate cpu?

:p
 
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