Intel Microcode Boot Loader

There is a good chance you have heard of the Meltdown and Spectre security vulnerabilities that were discovered in early 2018. Meltdown was resolved via an OS patch, but a microcode update is required for Spectre, and motherboard manufacturers often don’t release such updates for all but the newest devices.
Intel Microcode Boot Loader is a small utility that provides you with a workaround: it updates the microcode on every boot, keeping you safe from vulnerabilities that would not have been addressed otherwise.

Why this tool is necessary

Motherboard manufacturers typically stop releasing BIOS/UEFI updates as soon as newer devices are released and the existing software is deemed stable. Unfortunately, this means you may not receive microcode updates that often come with important security patches.
While it is possible to modify the BIOS/UEFI ROMs yourself in order to stay protected, it is not a novice-friendly process, and you could easily end up causing irreparable damage.

Install microcode updates on every boot

To set up Intel Microcode Boot Loader, you need to unpack the archive and copy the files to a USB drive formatted using the FAT32 file system. Next, just run the installer in order to make the drive bootable.
Once the drive is ready, restart your PC, set the USB drive as your primary boot device and enable legacy boot mode. Whenever you boot up your PC, the tool will install any available microcode updates before loading the operating system.

Valuable tool for protecting yourself against security vulnerabilities

Intel Microcode Boot Loader is based on Intel's BIOS Implementation Test Suite (BITS). It is quite intuitive, at least when compared to modifying the BIOS/UEFI manually. You can connect the drive whenever you wish to check for updates, but you will need to keep it plugged in at all times to ensure you receive the latest updates as soon as they become available.