Spectre and Meltdown are now a legal pain for Intel — the chip maker faces 35 lawsuits over the attacks (INTC)

A company representative declined to comment on the lawsuits.

Security researchers disclosed the Spectre and Meltdown attacks last month. Taking advantage of a particular feature found in nearly all computer processors, the attacks could allow a malicious actor to view secret data stored on PCs, tablets, and smartphones, including users’ passwords. In recent weeks, chip makers, device manufacturers, and operating system vendors have been scrambling to patch their devices and software to protect them from the vulnerabilities.

The attacks were actually discovered in June, and Intel was made aware of them soon thereafter. The vulnerability the attacks exploit has been present in nearly all Intel chips made over the last 20 years. And, unlike chips made by other manufacturers, Intel’s processors are vulnerable to both Spectre and Meltdown.

Intel’s handling of Spectre and Meltdown has drawn criticism — and now lawsuits

Intel’s handling of the situation has raised eyebrows not just because it waited more than six months to disclose the attacks to the public despite the fact that its chips were particularly at risk of them, but also because of a massive stock sale made by company CEO Brian Krzanich after the company found out about the attacks. In sale — through which Krzanich saw a $24 million windfall — the CEO sold off all of the shares of Intel he was allowed to sell under his contract.

Intel has noted that the sale, which Krzanich made in November, was done as part of a planned stock divestiture. But Krzanich only put that plan in place a month earlier, which was more than four months after Intel became aware of the attacks.

Thirty of the lawsuits filed against Intel are seeking class action status and were filed by customers who claim they were harmed by the attacks or by the company’s failure to disclose them, according to the annual report. Two of the suits, also seeking class action status, were filed on behalf of shareholders who charge that the disclosure of the attacks shows that statements Intel made about its products or business were false or misleading.

Additionally, another three Intel investors have filed shareholder derivative suits in California state court, according to the annual report. Those suits charge that Intel’s executives or directors failed in their duties to shareholders by delaying disclosure of the breach or not doing anything about insider trading at the company.

The Intel representative declined to say whether the company’s board has investigated Krzanich’s stock trade.