January 5, 2018
Computer security teams have discovered two separate vulnerabilities in Intel, AMD & ARM brand chips that exploit weaknesses in an essential CPU chip process when pretty much all modern computers try to anticipate what functions the user will need next.    The two vulnerabilities have been named “Spectre” and “Meltdown”.  There weaknesses affect basically all Intel , AMD & ARM brand chipsets.   That includes all Google devices, all Google cloud storage, and all  Apple devices,  including even Apple watches. … Sadly,  the current patches all slow down our computers, which particularly affects Apple~Mac devices & tablets, as they already run slower than PC computers.

If we do not download the latest security updates from Microsoft and Apple et al,  then hackers might be able to access our computer’s or tablets etc memory to steal our passwords & user IDs – using hacking methods that cannot be detected via traditional means.

Currently, there are no reports yet of hackers actually figuring out how to exploit the two flaws.

What else to do?

• Firefox Browser Users: Run ONLY the latest version (above 57) as per their advisory.
• Internet Explorer & Edge Browser Users:  Install the latest versions.
• Chrome Browser Users: Go to ”  chrome://flags/#enable-site-per-process ” in your browser and ENABLE   “Strict Site Isolation” .  (See example below)

  We’ll continue to follow the problem, and report on updated solutions as the manufacturers work to fix the problems.