Meltdown and Spectre bugs require software update
The world has been ablaze with talk of the Meltdown and Spectre bugs, but what are they, and how do they affect you? The vulnerabilities first came to light on 3 January 2018, when they were made public in the media. Affected hardware and software vendors had been made aware of the issues in the summer of 2017, but had been unable to release security patches in time.
Meltdown and Spectre are security vulnerabilities in the architectural design of modern CPUs. If taken advantage of, they could allow an application to read any information stored in your device’s memory, whether its authorised to or not.
That is, of course, a very serious weakness. Meltdown, for instance, could allow a hacker to gain access to your passwords, emails, photos and more as these are temporarily stored in the processor’s cache.
Spectre, meanwhile, is slightly different. Modern CPUs use something called branch prediction, which allows the chip to guess and prepare for the next instruction it will have to process, which can help it to work more efficiently. However, there is a chance that this could reveal private information that could be accessed by a malicious third party.
Esta historia es de la edición March 2018 de MacFormat UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición March 2018 de MacFormat UK.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
One more thing The Calculator app
With iPadOS 18, the iPad is finally getting its own Calculator app. But why the wait? Graham Barlow thinks something doesn't add up
ESET Home Security Ultimate
Security and anti-malware in an all-in-one package
AnkerWork S600 Speakerphone
Al-powered voice isolation for video conferencing
Philips VoiceTracer Audio Recorder Pen
Capture discreet recordings and convert speech-to-text
Mixx StreamBuds Solo 2 Wireless Earbuds
Budget-conscious wireless earbuds
Customise and use Control Centre on Apple Watch
Access your favourite features faster with Control Centre
Power up the Notes app
Make the most of Notes ahead of the macOS Sequoia updates
Logitech Signature AI Edition M750
Integrate ChatGPT into your workflow
THE APPLE PRODUCTS TIME FORGOT THAT
Discover the weird, the wonderful and the 'what were they thinking?\"
Shortcuts Cookbook
With the Shortcuts app, doing things on your devices becomes easier and faster – so discover where to find them, make changes and create your own shortcuts from scratch