Earlier quoted context omitted.
OoO risc-v processors are also vulnerable to spectre...
Which RISC-V processors?
Any of them unless they have specific modifications for mitigation.
ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
61–70 of 123 posts
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#62Some of the "facts" here are pretty weak. The "years of security expertise" is not really a feature I'd be proud of given the recent processor-level vulnerabilities that in fact, paint a very different picture about how traditional processor vendors treat security. Even if there is some validity here, this is in surprisingly poor taste. I've known people who have worked for ARM. I wonder what they think about this.
OoO risc-v processors are also vulnerable to spectre...
RISC-V foundation says not:
>No announced RISC-V silicon is susceptible, and the popular open-source RISC-V Rocket processor is unaffected as it does not perform memory accesses speculatively.
https://www.techpowerup.com/240310/risc-v-foundation-issues-...
Do you have a source?
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#63Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#64If this article is genuine (there are many comments arguing it might not be) I would consider it an excellent endorsement of RISC-V. If a company with an awesome engineering, like I consider ARM to be, is scared to the point of authoring some FUD, RISC-V has to be _really_ promising!
This is an utterly stupid move by ARM...if it's legit. Looks like it's a different domain registry than all the other ARM websites...not sure why, but that seems a bit fishy.
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some open source projects are different. A lot of them do not cater to end users directly. But if you want to talk about open source security, take a look at how OpenBSD handles issues; they definitely aren't messing around.
That's all true, I'm just wondering how things would be different if everyone were using an Open Source CPU vs what we have today. If everyone is running the same CPU design but sourced from different manufacturers who had them spun up at different fabs, how would that affect support? Today we have one or two device manufacturers we rely on for support and answers about if security fixes can be done in firmware vs re…
Note that RISC-V is _not_ an open-source processor, but an open-source instruction set architecture.
Which means that anyone can implement the instruction set and thus many different implementations can be made. Most likely there will not be one common and shared processor.
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
OoO risc-v processors are also vulnerable to spectre...
RISC-V foundation says not: >No announced RISC-V silicon is susceptible, and the popular open-source RISC-V Rocket processor is unaffected as it does not perform memory accesses speculatively. https://www.techpowerup.com/240310/risc-v-foundation-issues-... Do you have a source?
The rocket core isn't OoO, they even say so...
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#67An important missing feature: something resembling "Intel Management Engine"
Does ARM have this? Does RISC-V have this?
If Management is good, then someone's Remote Management of your computer must be even gooder!
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#68Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's all true, I'm just wondering how things would be different if everyone were using an Open Source CPU vs what we have today. If everyone is running the same CPU design but sourced from different manufacturers who had them spun up at different fabs, how would that affect support? Today we have one or two device manufacturers we rely on for support and answers about if security fixes can be done in firmware vs re…
That's the case today: ARM CPUs are sourced from different manufacturers and packaged together with other cores into SoCs, which have wildly varying support from their vendors. Some of these processors also have custom extensions. If you're worried about chip security when anyone can manufacture a chip, then sorry, we're already there, and RISC-V doesn't change that.
So what does it solve that's a problem today?
* Serious question. Apart from the freedom and control aspects of the Open Source model, what is solved with an open source CPU architecture or what are the benefits?
I can see being able to spin your own chips would enable an OEM/ODM to keep producing the same old design indefinitely where as reliance on Intel/AMD/Samsung/Mediatek means you have to refresh your design. That could be both a benefit and a detriment depending on how you look at it.
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#69Some of the "facts" here are pretty weak. The "years of security expertise" is not really a feature I'd be proud of given the recent processor-level vulnerabilities that in fact, paint a very different picture about how traditional processor vendors treat security. Even if there is some validity here, this is in surprisingly poor taste. I've known people who have worked for ARM. I wonder what they think about this.
Yeah, this years of security scrutiny argument is getting disproved. The recent processor vulnerabilities are one example. Another is how big corporates treat internal software: upgrade rarely and test very extensively. This has proven very fatal: WannaCry wouldn't have been possible if people had been at least updating to the most recent release and update.
I'd be happy to try out a RISC computer, actually it's quite sad that the CPU diversity got so little due to Intel/AMD.
Re: ARM: “RISC-V Architecture: Understand the Facts”
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
How would an open source processor be better from a security perspective? I might still be a little shell shocked from my attempts to setup a MythTV Box 10 years ago but this is what's running through my head: "Did you RTFM?" "Debain CPU doesn't have that issue." "Just disable the ALUs in firmware, they're not necessary in modern processors anyways." "That's been patched, just download processor v2.3.4.432 and send i…
Some open source projects are different. A lot of them do not cater to end users directly. But if you want to talk about open source security, take a look at how OpenBSD handles issues; they definitely aren't messing around.
I have been wondering, how far are we from a simple but powerful enough open source RISC-V CPU running OpenBSD in our Router or some Network Appliance.