ARM Holdings CEO discusses chip security following Intel backlash

Questions swirl over chip security following the discovery that many Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) processors may be vulnerable to hackers.

ARM Holdings CEO Simon Segars, whose company has produced more than 120 billion chips since 1991, says that the scrutiny toward Intel has changed the definition of what “safe” means.

“[The Intel flaws were] known around the middle of last year. What’s happened about finding out about it and now is it’s allowed time for the industry to get ready to make sure [that] software mitigations that are released to all devices and are being pushed out right now so that devices can be made as safe as possible, as quickly as possible, before the bad guys out there in the world find out about this and start to weaponize these issues,” Segars said during an interview with FOX Business’ Liz Claman at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Tuesday.

ARM Holdings estimates that around 5% of more than 120 billion chips its partners have shipped since 1991 were impacted by memory production flaws, according to Reuters.

Following Intel’s disclosure of the chip vulnerability, ARM released a statement saying that it would work with Intel and other chip makers to “devise mitigation for a new method identified by security researchers that can exploit certain high-end processors,” according to Fortune.

Segars says that he does not believe a recall for the chips is necessary since the flaws only impact a “small percentage” of products.

“The hardware features that enable the performance, the security issues that come with that can be mitigated in the software… and that’s the route that we’re taking,” he said.