Urgent Info You Need To Read Re System Vulnerabilities

[CrapAtCryptics]

There are significant vulnerabilities in many computer systems it has just been revealed, please read below
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42562303

As I know many people here use older versions of Windows this quote from the above article is deeply concerning.

"The patches are not being issued to anything older than Windows 10, and that means anybody on an older operating system is exposed," he said.

Make sure you have all critical updates from Windows, if available yet, and keep your antivirus current. It will be worth checking the website of your chip manufacturer to see if they have any fixes yet.

[Old_Geezer]

Saw this yesterday. Seems to me a compulsory slow down of folk's PCs :-(

[CrapAtCryptics]

It can also affect phones to

[Togo]

Was reading up on this on Tuesday C@C. I have re-located a couple of articles that I found then and will post the links below. I frequently read articles in "The Register" which is a bit of an online geek mag but is sometimes very useful. It seems that I personally am OK at this stage but I will still be keeping tabs on developments. Both links are a good 10 minute read but worth it if you are interested or concerned.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/04/intel_amd_arm_cpu_vulnerability/

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2018/01/04/intel_meltdown_spectre_bugs_the_registers_annotations/

[Togo]

This is the Home Page of The Register for anyone who wants to bookmark it.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/

[Bathsheba]

Please can someone translate this so I can understand it? I have Windows10, I think.

Baths
x x

[sunny-dave]

Baths :

There is a problem - it's unlikely to cause you any pain, but needs fixing

Windows 10 will fix it for you - as long as you allow the updates to install

It may slow down your computer after the update - no-one really knows yet

[Bathsheba]

Many thanks Dave :)

Baths
x x x

[tamborine]

My 3 XP lappys are faster than my useless W10 which is constantly ‘out of memory’!

[Togo]

You should be safe with w10 Baths as long as you do your upgrades particularly the Defender upgrades and patches. From what I can discern tablets and phones are by far the most vulnerable so be wary of what sites you access on them. Not just a Microsoft problem by the way A Macs are just as vulnerable, indeed some are of the opinion that Microsoft are doing far more than Apple to be helpful, although it is not their responsibility or indeed fault that the chips are dodgy.