Intel has stored ten years old hardware in a secret warehouse

The public does not know where Intel’s warehouse in Costa Rica is. That too “Wall Street Journal”No space was provided for the author of the report. The secret is not accidental: the company keeps its outdated technology there. Because, as Intel approved a few years ago, it should be kept in a safe place so that security holes can be checked.

Because when a technology becomes obsolete, it still needs support, especially when it comes to cyber security. For this reason, Intel has set up a warehouse with a related laboratory, which is specially designed to carry out extensive security tests remotely.

The Intel project represents a broader problem: legacy technology still in circulation can create increasing security vulnerabilities. Not all users usually buy the latest devices.

As manufacturers focus on the most advanced technology and the benefits it brings, there is a large amount of hardware use that companies no longer support. These then become increasingly vulnerable to cyber attacks.

Among other things, this massive effort required Intel the right location: according to the Wall Street Journal, about 3,000 devices, chips and technologies up to ten years old are now stored in an area of ​​1,300 square meters. However, this area almost doubles to make room for 6,000 hardware components in the future. The number of stored devices is already increasing by about 50 per week.

There were also some challenges from a logistics perspective. Some drivers, such as Sandy Bridge processors made between 2011 and 2013, were so rare that Intel employees had to track them on Ebay, according to a “WSJ” report.

But now, thanks to its facility in Costa Rica, Intel is able to carry out about 1,000 security test jobs per month. At any given time, around the clock, at least 25 engineers are active. With existing hardware, these may come slightly closer to the security gaps in the test system. The purpose is to completely reconstruct the potential error.

Now the work of this feature is having an impact on product development at Intel: any new technology is designed with the lab in mind and the ability to receive technical support for at least ten years.