Pondering your companies Internet Security? - On January 3rd 2018, a date that will remain in the memory of I.T. managers and tech support staff, the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities were publically announced. These two vulnerabilities affect all Intel chips made after 1995 and some Arm and AMD chips. So, what can you do to correct this and is it worth replacing your computer hardware?
What can Meltdown and Spectre do?
Meltdown and Spectre allows rogue programs to steal data which is processed and stored on your computer and this data can include passwords, photo’s, emails and office 365 documents. This data could be stored in your browser or in the cloud.
What should you do?
- Make sure that any antivirus software that you install is updated on a regular basis as there is a chance that any malware that is used by Meltdown and Spectre can be detected. It is important to have a good overview of your internet security.
- As these two exploits affect all Intel CPU’s and some Arm and AMD chips made after 1995, it is not known when redesigned chips will be released, but it is best to replace older computers with modern computers which will have patches available.
If you have legacy computers running legacy software, make sure they are not connected to your network and see if it’s possible to move the legacy software to other computers.
Install any patches that are available for your computer as soon as possible, and as already mentioned if there are none available replace your computer with a brand new modern one that will have a patch available. - Do an inventory of all your hardware and software so that you know what computers and software will need to be replaced.
In the meantime to get further information on Meltdown and Spectre and details of where you can download patches, please click here.
iPing provide managed services and IT services and we can help provide you with an overview of Meltdown and Spectre and what you can do to lessen its impact on your I.T. infrastructure. So, if you need some help with the above please contact us or give us a call on 01 5241350.