Two critical security vulnerabilities – Meltdown and Spectre – present serious risk to servers, cloud systems, laptops, desktops, and mobile devices. There are no known exploits at this time that affect institution-owned devices, but ITS is working to ensure our devices are protected with the latest patches supplied by our vendors. If you have a tagged computer, you do not need to take any action to secure your device. However, we recommend applying updates on your mobile device as they become available, whether your device is tagged or not.
What do you need to do?
If you are on an ITS-tagged computer, you will receive an automatic update that will patch these vulnerabilities.
For personally-owned devices, check for software updates and apply them immediately. Not all vendors have released patches at this time, so please continue to check for updates regularly. Make sure you follow our tips to secure your personal devices.
Additional information about Meltdown and Spectre
Meltdown and Spectre allow programs to gain unauthorized access to potentially sensitive information.
Researchers Discover Two Major Flaws in the World’s Computers
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/business/computer-flaws.html
What You Need to Do Because of Flaws in Computer Chips
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/04/technology/meltdown-spectre-questions.html
Technical details (research papers)
https://meltdownattack.com/
https://spectreattack.com/