Intel only informed US about Specter and Meltdown after government rumors

Chip designer Intel only informed the US government agency US-CERT about the existence of the leaks after the first rumors about Specter and Meltdown. The US officials would have liked Intel to have done that sooner.

Intel argued that hackers had not yet exploited the vulnerabilities, so there was no reason to believe there was a threat to US state security, according to letters sent by Intel to a committee in the US House of Representatives. has sent delegates and has seen the Reuters news agency.

The chip designer knew about the leaks from June, after security researchers had made reports about it. Intel did not analyze whether Specter and Meltdown could also affect critical infrastructure. It does not believe that to be the case.

Information about Specter and Meltdown came out in the form of unconfirmed information from January 3, followed by confirmation the following day. Then Intel informed US-CERT about the existence of the leaks.