Dear Customer,

We’re sure you are aware of the recent Intel vulnerabilities in the news in recent days. Below is a comprehensive document for both PC & MAC users in relation to what user action may be required. As this vulnerability affects so many devices you may be required to install updates on several devices to mitigate this.

FOR WINDOWS USERS:

The Vulnerabilities are known as below;
CVE-2017- 5753: Bounds check Bypass
CVE-2017- 5715: Speculative execution branch target injection

Recommendations;

Windows PCs – Microsoft will release patches to mitigate from this vulnerability and the updates
will be available from Tuesday 9th January, however if you wish to update your computer now (as the
patches where released by Microsoft yesterday 4th January) you can do so by simply doing the
following;

Windows 7 PCs – Select the Start button; All Programs; Windows updates, in the left-hand pane,
select Check for Updates, if any important updates are found, Select Install Updates and this will
install the latest patches for your windows 7 computer.

Windows 10 PCs – Settings; Update & Security; Windows Update and Check for updates and
install any available updates.

FOR MAC USERS

Apple have announced that nearly all of their products have been affected by the Meltdown/Spectre security bug.

Apple have already released patches to fix these issues.

If you are using a Mac running High Sierra please update to the latest version of High Sierra from the App Store.

If you are running El Capitan or Sierra, please install any security updates from the App Store.

If you are concerned about doing any upgrades or compatibility issues, please call the Big Bear office (01 4100212) for advice on how to proceed.

Make sure that you are running the latest iOS updates on your iPhones, iPads, and Apple TVs.

Apple watch is not affected.

Apple will also be releasing an update to Safari on all platforms to address any remaining issues in the next few days. Please download this as it becomes available.

Usual rules apply to using you devices securely, i.e; only use reputable websites, do not open any links in emails unless you are sure of their origin etc.

It is worth noting that neither of these exploits have been found running on the internet yet.

Again, If you are concerned about doing any upgrades please call the Big Bear office (01 4100212) for advice on how to proceed.

Kind regards,

The Big Bear Team

Follow