There is a reason for everyone who owns a computer to get worried as computer experts yesterday said that they had discovered that there were major problems with microprocessors making modern computers. To make the situation more complicated, the issue is said to have affected majority of the computers owned around the globe. The New York Times learned that the two drawbacks have been referred to as Spectre and Meltdown. The scientists further said that the two drawbacks provide hackers with an opportunity to get away with nearly all the contents that have been placed in the computer memory. These drawbacks not only affect personal computers but they also affect mobile devices as well as servers. The servers that are more susceptible to the drawbacks include those that are being operated on cloud computer networks. While addressing the world about the issue, the scientists mentioned that there is no easy way to fix the first problem. The researchers instead noted that one of the ways of correcting the Spectre problem is through redesigning the processor. On the other hand, meltdown can be fixed using a software patch. The only drawback to this problem is that it will result to slow machines and computers. This will greatly affect people who are accustomed to fast download.
One of the researchers who spoke about the issue is Paul Kocher. For starters, Mr. Kocher played a crucial role in the identification of the drawbacks. He has also worked for big companies such as Rambus and Google. When it comes to academics, he is a force to be reckoned with. He said that the Meltdown greatly affects companies that rely on cloud computing services. Some of the companies that are most likely to be affected by the drawback include Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. The three companies issued a statement on Thursday evening assuring their customers that they had updated their systems to deal with the drawback. As for Amazon, it assured the customers that use the Amazon Web Services that it had taken care of all instances that had been identified. Experts explained that hackers could take advantage of the Meltdown Drawback by renting space of a service that provides cloud solutions. The hackers then take control of the situation getting away with valuable information from customers such as passwords. As for personal computers, the experts said that hackers had first to find a way of ensuring that the software is up and running on the computer of the user.
Dil Bole Oberoi
