I can't really answer that," he said. Intel is always looking for ways to improve the security of its products, said Stephen Smith, vice president in data center engineering. While Intel worked with partners to resolve the issue, Intel Chief Executive Brian Krzanich in November sold $24 million of his Intel stock and options, according to regulatory filings, retaining 250,000 shares, the minimum the company requires him to own, according to the company's most recent proxy statement. An Intel spokesman said the divestiture was unrelated to the security issue and followed a prearranged plan with an automated sales schedule. Intel and a larger consortium of tech firms and researchers planned to disclose the issue on January 9. But this week, the tech-news site The Register broke the story by tracking discussions online between programmers studying patches for the flaws.