Take a moment to open up your desktop PC. No need to rush; I’ll wait.
Have you had a look inside? Great.
Do you spot a Gigabyte motherboard? Now, take a closer look beneath the CPU cooler.
If you see an Intel processor from the 8th to the 11th generation (manufactured between 2017 and 2021), there is a chance that a BIOS update may be needed—though it’s uncertain if one is available. The Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI), often still referred to informally as BIOS, has vulnerabilities that allow for code execution in a pre-boot environment.
This means that a compromise can occur before Windows or any other operating system starts. Gigabyte has addressed some of these issues with motherboard updates released in June.
However, many of these older PCs are no longer in active service, and as a result, they won’t receive the necessary UEFI/BIOS updates to resolve these vulnerabilities. This creates a significant problem, as roughly half of these systems are already past their End Of Life service date.
In such cases, Gigabyte advises users to reach out to the Field Application Engineer (FAE) for assistance. Essentially, this role involves providing specialized technical support after the hardware purchase.
If you acquired your Gigabyte motherboard from a retail store or purchased a complete PC from a system integrator with a Gigabyte motherboard, it’s likely that you do not have access to a Field Application Engineer. Reading between the lines, it appears that Gigabyte is implicitly suggesting that you should “buy a new motherboard” or, considering the age of some systems, “buy a new computer.”
This message appears to resonate with corporate clients as well, reinforcing the idea that upgrading may be the only viable option.