Cpu security

[Nick Ger]

How can a cpu make your pc safe? I thought it was antivirus his job to make your pc safe.

[Windows9]

A CPU is the brain of your PC not antivirus

[minibois]

15 minutes ago, Nick Ger said:

How can a cpu make your pc safe? I thought it was antivirus his job to make your pc safe.

In short, because the CPU works on a lower level than the OS and the antivirus.

 

See your CPU as your heart, your OS as your skin and an antivirus as armor.

The armor protects you against an outside 'simple' attack like an arrow, or a sword. But if someone finds a way to attack your heart directly (in the analogy that would be for a example a poisoned piece of food, while in the real world it can be something that circumvents the antivirus entirely), your system (body) can still be in danger.

 

Any sort of protection, can only protect against code on its same level, or higher level. An antivirus can't protect against attacks on a lower system, because it can't see what is happening on the CPU level.

 

*Keep in mind this is highly simplified

[just meh]

There are some cpus that you should avoid if at all possible with your budget due to exploits that cant be patched.
all intel cpus's  made between 2015 and 2019.(following the trend, 2020 as well.)

https://www.zdnet.com/article/top-linux-developer-on-intel-chip-security-problems-theyre-not-going-away/

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/13/20962667/intel-processor-security-vulnerabilities-researchers-disclosure

any motherboard with a Intel  made thunderbolt port to date (but hackers need physical access)

https://www.wired.com/story/thunderspy-thunderbolt-evil-maid-hacking/

Intel has done a lot of shitty things for a long time to make them easy to hate. Other manufactures have also had problems so with security there really is no crystal ball for the future of what will be safe. Neither can anyone really predict what will show up that cant be patched and the only solution will be to flat out replace the hardware. Right now your odds seem to be better by going with an AMD cpu, they are also much cheaper, and in 2020 faster for the same price point.

if you are going wireless, take a long hard look at 802.11ax (wifi 6) it will vastly improve security and also clean up allot of wifi channel noise vastly improving your network connection stability and speed. That said while its backwards compatible, every wireless device with a network card and your router will eventually have to be replaced so they can use wifi 6.When you are upgrading your hardware you may as well gracefully replace everything to at minimum this standard if its within your budget.
 

The only real advice anyone can give is that. Nothing is secure, Nothing ever will be for a very long time, and that anyone who claims otherwise cannot be taken seriously. If they proclaim it to loudly, its an absolute certainty that at the very least some one some where will say "Challenge accepted." If not an entire swarm of them. The entire industry is thoroughly and profoundly getting its ass kicked

 

So take appropriate precautions. Focus on privacy, compartmentalize information, trust nothing, and do your best knowing this is an exercise in utter futility.