What to know, and more importantly do, about Meltdown and Spectre.

What you need to know.

Researchers recently discovered how to exploit two design flaws in the processors used in most modern computers—Windows, Mac, and Linux machines, as well as many Android and iOS devices. This hardware flaw is present on Intel, AMD, and ARM processors manufactured over the past 10+ years, meaning that every computer on your network, including your workstation, is at risk.

This pair of very similar hardware flaws allow hackers to use malicious programs to steal data that is being processed in your computer memory. Normally, applications are not able to do this, because they are isolated from each other and from the operating system. This hardware bug breaks that isolation and allows an attacker to bypass certain protections and gain access to any data on your operating system that they normally would be unable to access.

 

How you could be affected.

It’s important to understand that like any other threat in the past, this vulnerability can’t be exploited if you don’t get malware on your system in the first place.

This means that only if your computer has been infected with malware can hackers exploit this flaw and gain access to the passwords stored in your password manager or browser, your emails, instant messages and even business-critical documents.

 

What you can do moving forward.

Vendors are releasing patches as quickly as they can, but in the meantime, we recommend following the best practices below:

  1. Inventory your systems.
  2. Assess for the biggest system risk(s).
  3. Apply the patches prioritized based on the risk.
  4. Make sure not to overlook any shared (virtual) infrastructure.
  5. Patch web browsers (this one is very important).

And as always, remain calm.

 

For customers currently under our Dynamic Quest QuestCare Managed IT support plan, we are already in the process of investigating options to help protect your environment so no need for action on your part – just an awareness.

For organizations not under the Dynamic Quest QuestCare Managed IT Support plan, please feel free to contact Cliff Bean at cbean@dynamicquest.com (336-389-4610) and he can help route you to our team that is heading up the process to ensure your technology systems are protected.


Managed Services
Managed IT Managed Service Desk Managed Cloud Services Managed Security Services Managed Backup and Disaster Recovery VOIP Phone Systems
Professional Services Page
IT Projects Migration Services Office 365 Development Business Systems Support Azure Cloud Solutions Anything as a Service (XAAS) Carrier Services
Archives by Subject

It takes an average of 287 days for security teams to identify and contain a data breach, according to the “Cost of a Data Breach 2021” report released by IBM and Ponemon Institute.

The internal team was energized. With the Level 1 work off its plate, the team turned its attention to the work that fueled company growth and gave them job satisfaction.

Large Healthcare Company

The cost of cybercrime is predicted to hit $10.5 trillion by 2025, according to the latest version of the Cisco/Cybersecurity Ventures “2022 Cybersecurity Almanac.”.

Forty-three percent of attacks are aimed at SMBs, but only 14% are prepared to defend themselves (Accenture).

40% of businesses will incorporate the anywhere operations model to accommodate the physical and digital experiences of both customers and employees (Techvera).

More than 33 billion records will be stolen by cybercriminals by 2023, an increase of 175% from 2018.

The three sectors with the biggest spending on cybersecurity are banking, manufacturing, and the central/federal government, accounting for 30% of overall spending (IDC).

The average cost of a data breach in the United States is $8.64 million, which is the highest in the world, while the most expensive sector for data breach costs is the healthcare industry, with an average of $7.13 million (IBM).

We did a proof of concept that met every requirement that our customer might have. In fact, we saw a substantial improvement.

Steve Fout, VP Sales, Godlan, Inc

We did everything that we needed to do, financially speaking. We got our invoices out to customers, we deposited checks, all the things we needed to do to keep our business running, and our customers had no idea about the tragedy. It didn’t impact them at all.

Denise Koontz, CFO, Got You Floored

“We believe our success is due to the strength of our team, the breadth of our services, our flexibility in responding to clients, and our focus on strategic support.”

Dynamic Quest

Our Vendors