Meltdown and Spectre: Are your computers, phones secure?

This week, technology researchers publicised security flaws in central processing units, aka chips, that run computers, servers, phones as well as smart TVs and refrigerators. Chips made by Intel, AMD and ARM pretty much run every computing machine in the world, and potentially hackers can steal personal information. How scary is this? ET takes a look

1. In Layman's Terms, What's The Problem?
Two problems actually, named dramatically in Bond movie style, Meltdown and Spectre. Meltdown for chips made by Intel, and Spectre for chips made by Intel, AMD and ARM. Because chips were manufactured for maximising performance they were designed to 'speculate' or anticipate sets of upcoming tasks users would perform. This left remnants of data in the chip. And some of that data can be sensitive personal information. So, you are at risk no matter which operating system your machine runs on.

2. So, Has Disaster Struck?
Thankfully, no case of illegal access has been reported. Researchers, chip companies and software companies have been working on solutions, called 'patches' in jargon.

3. What Should You Do?
Your anti-virus software is of no help. Everyone should be attentive to software patches being sent out by Microsoft, Apple, Google and software tools being sent out by chip-makers. All of this is freely downloadable, and should be downloaded as soon as they become available. Some experts say computer/phone performance may get affected by the patches. Others say the slowdown will be minimal. But safety before speed.

4. What About Those With Unlicensed Software?
India has millions of computers running unlicensed software. If you own one of those, you have no protection because software patches won't be sent to you. So, get licensed software ASAP.