Information on Meltdown and Spectre

Meltdown and Spectre are security affect most modern processors.  Since they were identified in mid-2017, the chip-making companies and operating system manufacturers have been working to mitigate the vulnerabilities.  There are no known examples of real-world attacks using these vulnerabilities.

For general information on both Spectre and Meltdown, take a look at the information website here

Microsoft and Apple have both released patches for many of their operating systems.

Windows users can check their system’s status using the Inspectre software produced by Gibson Research.

 Android learn how to check and update your Android version here

Steps you can take to secure your system

Update your operating system with the latest security patches

Update your browsers to prevent malicious websites compromising your system by these vulnerabilities.  Chromium-based browsers such as Chrome, Vivaldi and Opera can enable site isolation as a preventative step.  This can be done by entering “Chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process” into the address bar and clicking “Enable”.  Then restart your browser. Firefox has taken steps to resolve thsi issue since version 57.

Update your BIOS See you BIOS manufacturer’s website for details

Be cautious of email attachments, unknown programs and websites.  Gosh, that sounds vague but to put it another way, don’t open attachments or files just because they are sent to you.  Pause and decide whether you still want to go ahead.