Meltdown and Spectre what they mean to you.

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These are two vulnerabilities that affect how the kernel memory is handled and processed in a computer and the operating system. 

Because of these vulnerabilities, Hackers could gain access to almost anything in your computer because of the types of information available in memory that should be isolated.  For example passwords, credit card information you are typing into a website, etc. 

So you NEED to do these patches ASAP.  Seriously!  Like, stop reading, do your windows/apple/ios/android etc... UPDATES RIGHT NOW!. 

Go on... I'll be here when you get back...

You are doing your updates right now.. RIGHT? 


Now that you have done your updates expect every device to take a performance hit.  This can be SIGNIFICANT and noticeable. 

This could be as little as 1-2 percent on some devices or as much as 30% on Windows OS devices affected by both vulnerabilities. 

Because they had to fundamentally change how virtual memory is handled to make it safer and work around the physical limitations in the processors, the OS developers are still working on making an efficient effective work around to secure this. 

What do I mean, the patches that came out were designed to close the vulnerabilities fast so that you are safe.   The vulnerabilities exist because they are part of what make the chips fast so you will take a performance hit.    So basically some of the architecture which made the chips fast also makes them vulnerable. 

Having read some of the technical articles (Which I could follow but only from a high level) this is unlikely to be fixed in Intel architecture anytime soon and AMD will probably become the dominant Laptop/desktop/tablet chip provider for the foreseeable future. 

For Further Reading:
Easy read
https://www.pcworld.com/article/3245606/security/intel-x86-cpu-kernel-bug-faq-how-it-affects-pc-mac.html

Technical Read: https://cve.mitre.org/news/archives/2018/news.html#January082018_Meltdown_Is_CVE-2017-5754_and_Spectre_Is_CVE-2017-5753_and_CVE-2017-5715

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