2018 had a terrible start for IT industry: two massive threats were made known to the public (and consequently to the criminals). We wrote about Meltdown and Spectre before describing the problem. Then we said that that the situation is being dealt with and fixes are being released, so why are we still talking about it?
Few complications became prominent. One of them is that fixes and patches made to guard us against these vulnerabilities are not only slow systems down but are also quite unstable. Intel made a controversial statement recently advising people to avoid installing the patches to avoid system crashes and unpredictable behavior. Perhaps, the company based their beliefs on another statement made multiple times by multiple specialists: there were no successful attacks exploiting Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities reported yet. However, you do not want to deal with the consequences of a successful attack when it happens, you want to prevent it from happening.
Fortinet, an American cybersecurity company, rings the alarm, claiming it is not long until first successful incidents. Research group AV-Test registered 119 new malware samples that exploit the threats just between the 7th and the 22nd of January. The number of daily unique malware samples in somewhat constant, 10 new samples a day. The company insists on immediate action, urging everyone to update their systems regardless the possible drawbacks.
Fortinet Threat Report states that even 10 years after a threat was exposed and dealt with, 60% of companies become victims of attacks that use it. This shows the extent at which companies neglect the maintenance of their systems. Don’t be one of them! Make sure you are in reliable hands. Find out more about London IT support services.