On Wednesday, Google and Intel announced a potentially huge security issue for pretty much anyone with a phone, computer or tablet.
The companies revealed that Meltdown and Spectre — two attack techniques that exploit a security vulnerability in Intel, AMD, and ARM processors– could potentially be used against almost every computer, tablet, and smartphone on the planet. Credit card and personal information would not be safe.
At first, the computer industry’s most authoritative voice on issues like these, the Computer Emergency Response Team Coordination Center (CERT/CC), issued a warning that the only way to be safe was to replace the processors. However, since then the CERT/CC now says in a newly updated security bulletin updating your device’s operating system and applications will close the hole. In the new statement, they listed vendors who have already created updates with a patch
CERT/CC is a part of the Software Engineering Institute, which is a non-profit organization funded in large part by the Department of Defense through grants. CERT/CC is a regular consultant on cybersecurity for the DoD, the FBI, and Homeland Security.
Are Your Devices Among Those Affected?
The security weakness called Meltdown would make potentially every chip produced by Intel for Macs and PCs vulnerable. The other vulnerability, nicknamed Spectre, affects Intel, ARM and AMD processors that have gone mostly into tablets and smartphones. Meltdown is the name for what is essentially a blind spot in the processor’s security. It leaves open the door for hackers or malware programs to get access to a device, and things like stored usernames and passwords. If you have Intel inside, you need to perform an update.
AMD and ARM processors do not have the same security hole but are vulnerable to another one, Spectre. However, ARM said that a patch for Spectre had already been included in previous updates for ARM and AMD.
To find out more, or to find out how to figure out what kind of processor you have, read more here.
