Computer modern conserns

As we have seen in the news, security researchers have discovered two vulnerabilities, which together, impact most of the chips used in our computing devices (computers, laptops, tablets, smart phones). Manufacturers are moving quickly to mitigate these vulnerabilities by rolling out patches for their systems. It has been noted that the patch will impact performance on computer devices. The impact is highly variable depending on the type and the complexity of the work being performed on the device with the biggest performance impacts on central high-performance computer systems. Malicious programs executed on our computing devices can exploit these vulnerabilities. The main thing we can do to protect ourselves and the university against these threats is to apply all patches from operating system vendors (Microsoft, Apple, RedHat, Ubuntu, Google Android, etc). If you have automatic updates turned on or have manually upgraded your devices recently, many systems are already patched. As the remaining manufacturers release their patches, these should be applied. For more information on these vulnerabilities search for Meltdown and Spectre using your favorite search engine. For a more extensive list of manufacturer information and responses search for US-CERT alert TA18-004A.