By now you’ve heard the news… there is a basic design flaw at the heart of many computer chips (CPUs) that leave systems using them open to attack.  It’s bad and there is not much you can do.  There are really at least two flaws, which can affect Billions of devices currently in use… computers, smartphones, and countless other devices.

Perhaps the only good news is that there haven’t been any widespread attacks, and the industry is scrambling to patch things up.

What can you do??? Not much.  Keep your computers and anti-virus/anti-malware products updated, update your hardware (firmware), and be extra careful with your use of the Internet.   The bad news is that the cyber criminals will undoubtedly take advantage of the hysteria, and will be creating fake updates.  And there’s the occasional problems caused by legitimate updates themselves… Buying a new computer won’t help, as all existing chip designs contain the flaw.

The problem and fix is quite complex, and will take years to sort out.  The only things we have right now are a couple of free tools, created by Ashampoo and Steve Gibson, that tests your system and reports on your status.  Neither tool actually do anything to fix the problem.

Ashampoo tool:  https://www.ashampoo.com/en/usd/dld/1304/spectre-meltdown-cpu-checker/

Steve Gibson’s tool: https://www.grc.com/inspectre.htm