Three plaintiffs say a design defect in Intel processors creates a significant security vulnerability in every computer that uses them.
Plaintiffs Amy Storey, Michael Inman and Dennis Chavez say a defect deep within Intel central processing units, or CPUs, creates unacceptable security vulnerabilities in their computers and other CPU-equipped devices.
The processors at issue are Intelโs x86-64x units. Plaintiffs say the defect afflicts all of these processors manufactured over at least the pastย 10 years. It allegedly allows everyday computer applications โ and potentially malware โ to get at least some information about the contents of kernel memory, which is ordinarily supposed to be protected.
Plaintiffs say the Intel processor defect was publicized in November 2017. Itโs believed to affect every Intel processor made since 2004, regardless of the operating system or the brand of computer in which the processor is installed. These processors are used both in smaller computers marketed for personal use and in most of the larger, cloud-based servers used by tech giants Google, Amazon and Microsoft, the complaint reads.
The alleged defect is not easily fixed, according to this Intel class action lawsuit.
โThe only way to โpatchโ this vulnerability requires extensive changes to the root levels of the Operating System which would dramatically reduce performance of the CPU,โ the plaintiffs say.
โAlternately, assuming that consumers could obtain a suitable replacement processor, one could only replace the processor itself at considerable expense.โ
A software patch to remedy the defect was announced in January 2018, but it comes with the drawback of significantly slowing down the affected computer. According to a report in The Register, an update for Linux and Windows machines was projected to cause a slowdown of five to 30 percent.
Plaintiffs claim Intel was on notice of the defect months before it was made public. In June 2017, a member of a Google security team contacted Intel about certain security problems in its processors. The next month, Intel arranged from members of three other teams of experts to meet and confer about the problems at the Black Hat cybersecurity conference.
All three plaintiffs bought computers of various brands and different operating systems, all of which suffer from the alleged defect. Storeyโs Apple Mini and Inmanโs Lenovo Yoga allegedly contain defective processors, as do the six computers and six phones Chavez purchased for his family.
The plaintiffs say that neither they nor the proposed Class Members would have bought the allegedly defective Intel processors had they known about this designed-in vulnerability.
Intel has already been hit with other litigation over the alleged processor defect. Two plaintiffs filed their Intel class action lawsuit in a California federal court earlier this month over the same issue, noting that it exposes millions of Intel-equipped computers to critical security vulnerabilities.
In this newest Intel class action lawsuit, the plaintiffs propose to represent a Class that would cover persons who, in New Mexico and other states to be approved by the court, purchased one or more Intel processors from Intel or its authorized retailers and either experienced or are likely to experience the alleged defect during the useful life of the processor.
They seek an award of damages, restitution, disgorgement, and injunctive and declaratory relief, reimbursement of their attorneysโ fees and costs of litigation, and any other relief the court deems warranted.
The plaintiffsโ attorney is Nicholas Koluncich of Law Offices of Nicholas Koluncich III LLC.
The Intel Defective Processor Class Action Lawsuit is Storey, et al. v. Intel Corp., Case No. 1:18-cv-00051-LF-KBM, in the U.S. District Court for the District of New Mexico.
If you purchased an Intel-based processor, computer, or server within the past six years and were negatively affected by the Intel security flaw and patch update, you may be able to join an Intel class action lawsuit investigation.
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119 thoughts onIntel Class Action: Processor Defect Puts Entire Generation of Computers at Risk
add me to the list please.
Please add me.
Add me
Add me, I bought two and they could not be updated and constantly shut down. Iโve lost a ton of information, not happy.
Please add me. Iโve had four, three of which have crashed and list all info!
Please add me. I homeschool my children and Iโve lost all of their proof of work, pictures and videos of my six children, and countless other memories!! For the price I paid this is utterly unacceptable!! Peace and blessings.
Add me. Iโve bought 3 now. The first two completely shut down on me and no way of getting them back on. Iโve lost all my pictures of my children and grandchildren because of this defect. :(
My Gateway PC was unable to be updated by Windows due to a security flaw. Then it began randomly rebooting on and off for hours which made my monitor useless. My cable company was not able to offer any advice other than โitโs the computerโ!
Add me I have bought two and have always felt my security had problems because my security I have installed would shut down randomly and I would be blocked from turning back on than I would see device on my system I didnโt download. Thank you maybe your the answer to my problems
Add me I brought 4