I never heard of Thunderbolt, so I guess in won’t affect me.
Possibly true. If you’re a Mac user, your Mac has Thunderbolt ports. So do the Microsoft Surface computers. It’s the fastest peripheral transfer connection. However, Intel apparently made a boo-boo when they designed the original silicon back in 2011 and it’s coming back to bite the standard.
The claim this vulnerability can steal all data is bogus, I think, especially on an encrypted Mac or Mac storage drive. Macs use industry leading 256bit Advanced Encryption Standard to do such encryption which uses a single key that is not available on the device. No matter WHAT peripheral might be plugged into the Thunderbolt port by any vulnerable means cannot magically decrypt the user’s data unless the user has entered their password to decrypt the data. Such a device, no matter what they might be able to install, is also not magic and can be uninstalled, contrary to the article’s claims of locking out further updates. Apple, for example, requires a higher than Super User password to make system level changes to the core software, including firmware. Without that password, any external attempt to change things just cannot occur.
This vulnerability requires physical access to the computer. It is not a remote exploit by any means: a physical device MUST be physically plugged into the computer’s Thunderbolt port before anyone could attempt any break-in.
A USB C connector on a laptop is likely Thunderbolt.
It’s a standard that Apple was an early adopter of- but exists with, as a compliment to- USB technology- currently in USB-C (the standard for most recent smartphone chargers and data cables, and most laptops and desktops). It enables faster data transmission and multiple uses with the same cable. Think ultra HDMI plus the highest speed USB and you get close to understanding it.
But not all USB-C devices also implemented Thunderbolt technology.