Meltdown and Spectre

As many of you have likely seen in the news, two new vulnerabilities have recently been announced.  The vulnerabilities have been named Spectre and Meltdown. 

These vulnerabilities are related to weaknesses in the way that most modern computer processors operate, and most computing devices are impacted.  At this point, there are no known incidents where the vulnerability has been exploited, and no known malware, based on the vulnerability, is known to exist.  DoIT security staff are monitoring local and national security groups to make sure that we address any threats as they develop.

Given that most computing devices are impacted by these issues, many operating system vendors are developing software updates to address the vulnerabilities.  In order to ensure that the updates themselves do not cause any issues, DoIT will test the updates as they become available.  Once we have verified that the updates are safe, we will work with the community to apply the updates as appropriate. 

As always, if you have any IT security questions or concerns, please contact the DoIT Security Department at security@umbc.edu.

Mark Cather
UMBC Chief Security Officer