Today we notified our customers about important security updates available for computers and servers using Intel processors; as well as for the VIPRE antivirus program. As you may be aware, the recently announced security vulnerabilities, known as Meltdown and Spectre, can be found in virtually all modern CPUs, and they represent possible information leakage based on unauthorized access to shared memory space. For those who haven't heard about this new type of network security threat, we thought it would be helpful to get the word out more broadly via this brief post so that people have at least the basic information about Meltdown and Spectre.
What is being done to fix this issue?
Microsoft has very recently released patches intended to address critical security vulnerabilities. In them, Microsoft has made fundamental changes to how Windows manages and accesses memory, which will likely have follow-up effects for many applications running under Windows. Due to the enormous potential impact, Microsoft is ensuring applications are compatible before deploying of the fix. They will be rolling out updates Tuesday, January 9. There is always some possibility that these updates can break functionality of other systems. Here is the full technical information from Microsoft.
Apple has already released mitigation in iOS 11.2, macOS 10.13.2, and tvOS 11.2 to help defend against Meltdown. Apple Watch is not affected by either Meltdown or Spectre. Here is Apple's statement.
What should I be doing to protect my computers and network?
The best thing you can do to help mitigate these threats is to have the operating systems and browsers on your devices updated to the latest version. Contact your Information Technology service provider to make sure your systems are up to date. Also, if your applications are hosted in a cloud environment, you'll want to inquire with your provider about how they are protecting their servers against these threats.