Posted on 01/04/2018 10:05:16 AM PST by ImJustAnotherOkie
Microsoft has warned some PC users they will not be able to apply an emergency Windows patch because their security software is incompatible.
The out-of-bounds update was issued by Microsoft yesterday to address the Meltdown and Spectre flaws in Intel chips.
These vulnerabilities affect most PCs and servers, and can be exploited to allow an attacker to read sensitive information, such as passwords, from protected memory. The Spectre flaw also affects AMD chips, but is considerably more difficult to exploit, as well as a small number of Arm-based processors.
However, not every Microsoft system will be able to apply the patch, as Microsoft has blocked its installation on PCs running incompatible anti-virus software.
Microsoft says it was necessary to delay the update on these systems to avoid Blue Screen of Death errors that would leave the device unable to boot.
Okie, the problem is that your link does not represent what the Inquirer.net's headline actually states. Here is the actual headline:
Intel, ARM and AMD all affected by security-bypassing, kernel-bothering CPU bugs
Their headline is accurate, your link headline is not. If you had summarized it by using "Meltdown" OR "Spectre" that would have been closer to accurate. By using "AND" you imply that Meltdown impacts AMD and ARM processor CPU designs when that is not at all true. On the other hand, Spectre does impact all three makes of processors.
LOL! I just dinged Okie for the exact same thing. Great minds follow the same logic paths.
That's not what I gather. My understanding is that some anti-malware apps prevent unwanted automatic updates from Microsoft. To get the update that partially fixes this vulnerability, these AV protections have to be disabled, otherwise the Microsoft updates will not be downloaded and installed.
Had an Anti-Virus lab discovered this vulnerability they would have reported it to Intel for the bug bounty so it could be closed due to the very dire consequences those AV engineers could easily see, they would not have just said, "Hey, neat, we can use this for our AV to work," when it was totally unnecessary for AV's operation. Such a scenario makes zero sense.
That's what bother's me the most. It's been well known for a long time. This one sentence changes everything.
Microsoft's testing revealed a "small number" of antivirus programs are making unsupported calls into Windows kernel memory, which result in blue screen of death (BSOD) errors. To avoid causing widespread BSOD problems Microsoft opted to only push its January 3 security updates to devices running antivirus from firms that have confirmed their software is compatible.
I use “paid for” avast.
Also, even though I was a VERY early adapter of FIrefox, I abandoned it about two years ago for the browser that comes with avast. Biggest advantage: When you are watching a video, it recognizes that fact and has a button on the address bar that allows you to make a permanent copy of it.
I think it was Microsoft's policy of pushing out updates that caused these AV vendors to offer the service of preventing MS from pushing out updates in the first place. So many users were completely pissed off at the update policy and system that actually broke their setups they demanded something like that. A market void like that is something demands to be filled. The law of unintended consequences on both sides has bitten all players.
"More specifically, all modern processors capable of keeping many instructions in flight are potentially vulnerable. In particular, we have verified Spectre on Intel, AMD, and ARM processors," the researchers said.
http://money.cnn.com/2018/01/03/technology/computer-chip-flaw-security/index.html
Okie, MELTDOWN DOES NOT AFFECT AMD BUT SPECTRE AFFECTS ALL.
How freakin’ hard is that to understand, Okie?
I read this affects computers etc. five years old and less...so I’m not sweating about it.
The context of the post was concerning both problems. Spectre obviously has the biggest audience.
People saying an article about Spectre and Meltdown only refer’s to Meltdown must have Syphillis of the brain.
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