[NEWS] Two Apple Silicon chip flaws could expose your private data to thieves

Note the word *could* in the headline ... it's another storm in a teacup that probably nobody in the real world will ever encounter (at least nobody with the sense to avoid porn and pirate websites).
It's also similar to flaws already found in all other ARM processors, so the brainless troll brigade should keep their idiotic pieholes shut.
    Two Apple Silicon chip flaws could expose your private data to thieves
    ----------------------------------------------------------------------
    Apple's processors are fast because they predict what you'll need next,
    but when they guess wrong hackers can exploit those mistakes to steal
    your private data.
    Apple Silicon, like the M2 and M3, is designed to be some of the
    fastest in the world, powering iPads and Macs. Their strength is
    speculative execution, a feature that guesses what you'll need next to
    keep things running smoothly.
    But new research shows this speed boost comes with a cost. When these
    guesses are wrong, they can create vulnerabilities that hackers could
    use to access sensitive information, like emails and credit card
    details.
    SLAP & FLOP attacks
    Researchers from the Georgia Institute of Technology have identified
    two new Apple Silicon security vulnerabilities in Apple's recent CPUs,
    named SLAP and FLOP. These attacks exploit features in the M2, M3,
    A15, and A17 chips that are supposed to improve performance.
    The problem lies in how Apple's processors try to predict memory
    operations to speed up tasks. When these guesses are wrong, they
    accidentally open the door for hackers.
    SLAP (speculative execution via Load Address Prediction) lets
    attackers access private data, like email content, by tricking the
    processor into using out-of-bounds memory. FLOP (False Load Output
    Prediction) goes even further, bypassing memory safety checks.
    These aren't just theoretical attacks. The team demonstrated how SLAP
    could extract private emails from Safari and how FLOP could recover
    sensitive data like credit card details.
    While there's no evidence of hackers exploiting these flaws in the
    wild yet, the potential is there.
    Apple's next move
    SLAP and FLOP are similar to other speculative execution attacks like
    Spectre and Meltdown, which caused widespread concerns a few years
    ago. The difference here is that they specifically target Apple's
    hardware.
    Apple hasn't yet released a fix, but it's aware of the Apple Silicon
    vulnerabilities. The researchers who found SLAP and FLOP notified
    Apple about a year ago for one flaw, and about six months ago for the
    other.
    However the M4 chip was well underway at that time. True fixes often
    require changes at the chip level, which can't happen until the next
    generation of processors.
    Software updates might mitigate the problem.
    What you can do to stay safe
    If your Mac, iPhone, or iPad uses an M2, M3, A15, or A17 chip, it's
    vulnerable. That includes devices like the M2 MacBook Air, the
    iPhone 15 Pro, and the latest iPads. Older devices with M1 or earlier
    chips aren't impacted by these particular vulnerabilities, though they
    might face different risks.
    Keep your devices updated with the latest software, including security
    patches. Avoid untrusted websites and disable JavaScript when not
    needed. Browser extensions that block scripts can also help.
    <https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/01/28/two-apple-silicon-chip-flaws-could-make-your-private-data-vulnerable-to-theft>