For those who've no time or inclination to read the article:
1) The attacker should first modify system MTRR
register(s) in order to mark the region of system
memory where the SMRAM is located as
cacheable with type Write-Back (WB).
2) Attacker now generates write accesses to
physical addresses corresponding to locations
where the SMRAM is located.
3) Finally attacker needs to trigger an SMI, which
will transfer execution to the SMM code. The CPU
will start executing the SMM code, but will be
fetching the instructions from the cache first.
I hate to say it because they do good work, but I think nVidia is ultimately doomed as it is today. Everyone rips Intel's integrated 3d graphics but they just keep getting better every year.
And nVidia's graphics aren't getting any better? A GPU and a CPU stuffed together into the same chip will always be a low-cost/low-power/low-end solution, can never come close to the capability of a GPU that has the whole die to itself. If Intel/AMD has ~2B transistors in a chip that are divided between a general-purpose CPU and a GPU, can that ever match a 2B transistor discrete GPU + a discrete CPU? Unlikely. Plus, CUDA has put forth interesting possibilities for putting the GPU to other uses.
Although AMD should have bought nVidia instead of ATI, they do own ATI, and so have a pretty good graphics system on their own.
And they should have taken nVidia down with them, instead of ATI, like their doing now. They did nVidia a favour by going for ATI instead.
Eventually, both AMD and Intel are going to wind up with 3d calculations on the die in some fashion, and that's going to leave nVidia for what?
See above. Keyword: Discrete GPUs.
Learn to discriminate your pancreatic cancers. Adenocarcinoma has a 5% survival rate. Steve had a islet cell neuroendocrine tumor, which has a 50 to 75% 5 year survival.
Unfortunately, someone has to make up the other 25%.
Don't panic.