Hospitals and clinics have been storing confidential medical files and patient data in highly protected servers. But unless patches are being installed, Spectre and Meltdown attacks could undermine the security of healthcare providers.
Why is Spectre and Meltdown a big problem for healthcare providers?
Spectre and Meltdown are security flaws in computer chips that give hackers access to all data saved in the server, circumventing even encryption and multi-layered security systems.
How to avoid Spectre & Meltdown attacks
Issues found for new Windows patches
Despite security being one of Microsoft’s top priorities, it has been recently discovered that there are two vulnerabilities in computer chips, named Meltdown and Spectre, that put private data in jeopardy. As a solution, Microsoft has released an update to fix this vulnerability.
How to stay safe from Spectre & Meltdown
Like many security flaws, the Spectre and Meltdown bugs can leak critical data from computers and mobile devices for hackers to exploit. What makes them unique is the vast number of PCs, laptops, tablets, and smartphones they affect. But if you use an Apple device, there are fixes that can help you temporarily protect against them.
Hardware flaws affect browser security
In the first week of 2018, security researchers announced that modern computer processors have a fundamental flaw called Spectre. If exploited, hackers could gain access to systems that store confidential information. And the most vulnerable to these attacks are outdated web browsers like Chrome, Safari, Microsoft Edge, and Firefox.