What's going on?

The revelation of a major flaw in the security of Intel�s computer chips has caused its stock to sell off in recent days� and has users all over the world re-evaluating the security of their systems.

What does this mean?

The problem relates to how computer memory chips operate. In order to speed up their processing, chips (like people) often guess what task they will be asked to perform next. By lining up these �guesses�, the chips are reportedly exposing normally protected data, like passwords, to hackers. Importantly, no major breach appears to have occurred, but due to the ubiquity of memory chips � they�re an integral component of major data centers � the vulnerability affects a huge number of companies and people.

Why should I care?

For markets: Investors are punishing Intel.

While Intel was initially at pains to stress the issue affected other major chip makers as well, both the initial media reports and subsequent investor reaction suggest that Intel chips are by far the most exposed to the potential security breaches. Intel�s stock has fallen more than 5% since the news first broke on Wednesday, while the stock price of one of its main competitors, AMD, has risen by about 10% (it could potentially benefit from an uptick in sales at Intel�s expense).

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For you personally: Judiciously installing those new security patches is always a good idea.

Intel and others have reportedly been aware of this vulnerability for over six months (Google initially spotted it). They�ve been working on a fix, but a media report prompted them to publicly disclose the issue on Wednesday. For now, the most important thing to do is to install those pesky security patches you�re always avoiding: many software providers have already made one available to combat the recently disclosed flaws.