
How a 22-Year-Old Discovered Meltdown and Spectre - bloat
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-01-17/how-a-22-year-old-discovered-the-worst-chip-flaws-in-history
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seba_dos1
Is there anything particularly special about his age to make such a big fuss
about it? Sure, this thing is worth an article like that, but it's not the age
that makes it remarkable. People this age can just be perfectly capable to do
stuff like that. What would have changed in perception of this article if he
was not 22, but 32 years old? Would it still be mentioned in the title?

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mhandley
Being young is often an advantage when finding something really elusive that
is obvious with hindsight - I think Meltdown and at least Spectre 1 fall in
this category. When you're older, you get influenced more by how things are
meant to work, whereas when you're younger (or just new to an area), you make
fewer assumptions. You ask the questions no-one else thought were worth
asking, because the answer couldn't possibly be true - but then it is after
all.

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mstade
So what you're saying is that it'd be _more_ impressive if he was older?

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nerdponx
_Horn wasn’t looking to discover a major vulnerability in the world’s computer
chips_

Maybe that's why he was the first to find it. He was looking where nobody else
had thought to look, and he just so happened to have the combination of
knowledge and resources (edit: and talent) to find a flaw there.

~~~
godelmachine
>>"he just so happened to have the combination of knowledge"

He had found security glitches in his school's computers network as a kid.
Also, he was hired by a security research firm while he was still an
undergrad.

In addition to knowledge and resources, he also had the knack.

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merb
He‘s german and Trust me finding a Security issue in german School Networks is
not a big deal

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HarryHirsch
That's right, when you do that in the US in any school the on-site cops come
and arrest you. Initiative, competence and creativity are as a rule not prized
in American education, conformity and athletic prowess are.

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TomMarius
He meant that the networks often aren't secured at all, so it's very easy to
break into them.

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vatotemking
In typical hackernews fashion, most of the comment (even the top comment) is
someone downplaying someone else's brilliance.

Why cant you just be happy for the kid?

Some people are just plain better than you. And its OKAY. Most of us here are
average, and will probably never see our own success story published like
this. Kid has done and contributed so much at a young age. He's clearly way
above average, judging from the reaction of his peers in the netsec community.
His skills has benefited us all. His achievement should be celebrated, not met
with bitterness.

~~~
TomMarius
He's brilliant; but it's not about the age. I'm in a similar position to him
(working on a very senior position in a big enterprise even though I'm in my
very early twenties, I'm even younger than him) and I can assure you people
like us don't like others pointing out our age. Focus on our achievements, our
knowledge and our experience.

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megaman22
I miss all the time I used to have to screw around with random things in my
teens and early twenties. There's way too much adulting getting in the way as
you get older...

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gyyfl
I thought meltdown and spectre were found simultaneously and independently by
multiple groups?

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wyldfire
> When a fellow researcher asked him about another possible aspect of
> processor design that might be vulnerable to attack, Horn said, with a
> brief-but-telling smile: "I’ve been wondering about it but I have not looked
> into it."

Anyone who was at RWC2018 who can tell us what this item was? Presumably it's
too technical for bloomberg's readership and not secret.

~~~
Macuyiko
Probably the comment regarding Trusted Execution Environments. The talk is
online:
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O8LTwVfTVs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6O8LTwVfTVs)

