Happy New Year! Exciting News: Security experts recently found two serious issues that impact every single computer out there. They go by the names Meltdown and Spectre. What does this mean? Picture this – a weakness that lets hackers swipe all the data stored in your computer, phone, or online server. Quite scary, right? But hold on, the story doesn’t end here!
A few months ago, the KRACK attack was bad enough, opening a breach in WiFi networks’ security. But this is much worse. Because these flaws break some fundamental protections computers promise. And almost every device in the world is exposed, at a hardware level. Indeed, both flaws are found in the most popular microprocessors: Intel, AMD and ARM.
Quick reminder: Intel and AMD are world leaders in the manufacturing of microprocessors. And they represent 97% of the chips market… So, no matter if you’re on Windows, Mac or Linux. The flaws are there, ready to be exploited by malicious people.
How bad is it? These vulnerabilities have existed for more than 20 years. And we hadn’t make a big deal of it. But the game changer is that most people and companies store their data in the cloud. And these hardware bugs allow programs to steal data that are processed on the servers.
Hackers could rent space on a cloud service, just like any other customer. And they could exploit the flaws to grab information like passwords from the other customers on the server… They’d be like kids in a candy store, with a huge mountain of data available!
PCs (Windows, Mac and Linux) are also vulnerable… However, it’s not that easy for hackers. Because you would need to have downloaded a malware before anyone could steal your data. But it’s far from impossible. They could lure you to install an app with amazing benefits… Free VPNs, I’m looking at you!
Finally, news of the Meltdown Spectre flaws leaked earlier than researchers had planned, on The Register and other news sites. So the industry didn’t have much time to prepare and face the new threats from hackers taking advantage of these vulnerabilities.
A VPN is not enough, it is necessary to protect your passwords, so read my article on how to protect your passwords in which I give you my TOP 10 of do's and don'ts!
Looking for a password manager? Take a look at Password Boss.
If you have doubts about your browser’s vulnerability, you can use the Spectre Check, a tool from Tencent’s Xuanwu Lab. And click on the Click to Check button, you’ll get the answer instantly. I’m all good, fortunately:
This is the worse part… These two major flaws are going to be tough to correct. While Apple didn’t share any news yet about fixing Meltdown, Microsoft and Linux are already rolling out security patches. But there’s a catch: Your device could be hit with significant slowdowns… Indeed, fixing the issue could slow down your computer by as much as 30 percent!
And researchers say it’s impossible to solve the Spectre issue with a software patch… And they’re talking about redesigning the microprocessors. So we would need to wait for a new generation of chips to get it fixed…
I’ll give you below a few steps to keep your data safe from these critical flaws. Feel free to buzz me if I forget to mention anything useful. And if in doubt, use common sense…