Like many of our clients, you may have heard about a couple of security vulnerabilities going by the names of Meltdown and Spectre.
These design flaws leave the vast majority of computer processors in use today vulnerable to outside access to the operating system’s private kernel memory area.
Access to the kernel means hackers could retrieve all sorts of sensitive user information such as passwords, photos, emails, instant messages, and even crypto-keys.
Referring to Meltdown in particular, Google says that virtually every Intel processor released since 1995 is vulnerable to exploit by it.
Here’s the Good News
As bad as Meltdown and Spectre sound, many experts agree that the average computer user doesn’t have to stay up late at night worrying about these hardware bugs.
According to a PC World article, “Everyday home users shouldn’t panic too much.”
Microsoft has released security patches for Windows and Apple came out with similar patches for its various operating systems. Linux users can also download patches for their systems.
Besides downloading and installing these important OS updates, iSTAM also recommends updating your browser and other software.
It is also critical to update and use a good quality antivirus program such as iSAFE Enhanced Anti-Virus.
More Info on These Design Flaws
Meltdown and Spectre actually refer to three unique computer vulnerabilities that can leave processors open to attack.
Two separate vulnerabilities tagged as Spectre affect almost every computer, laptop, smartphone, and cloud server. Spectre has been identified on Intel, AMD, and ARM processors.
The name Spectre comes from speculative execution—a normal process in today’s computers—that is used to trick applications into accessing arbitrary locations in their memory.
The one design flaw specified as Meltdown is known to affect only Intel processors. It picked up this moniker because the flaw basically melts security boundaries that are normally kept intact by the processor.
The greatest danger of the Meltdown and Spectre flaws is that they could potentially affect so many computers, laptops, tablets, servers, smartphones, cars, and other IoT (Internet of Things) devices.
You Can Relax
But for most people, just taking a few precautions by updating your computer, antivirus software, and browser should do the trick.
According to a PC World article, “The vital information you need to know about the serious Meltdown and Spectre CPU exploits isn’t whether your PC is inherently vulnerable to them—it is—but whether your system has been patched to protect against the flaws.”
As always, iSTAM Computer Services is ready to give support as needed. If you have questions about Meltdown and Spectre or any other security aspect of your computer or IT system, give us a call. We have answers.