Current Security Threats 1/5/2018

LeeShanok takes IT security seriously and it is our duty to inform our clients about potential threats and vulnerabilities that can affect your business.

LeeShanok is continually on the watch for such threats and advises when a threat needs more than the usual caution and action is recommended. Cyber threats continually evolve and attacks are ongoing towards businesses and consumers. At this time, we would like to advise you about some of the current security threats that may require action on your part.

Spectre and Meltdown

As you may have heard, there are two new vulnerabilities called Spectre and Meltdown. These flaws in modern processors will potentially allow an attack on nearly every computer in the world which includes hypervisors, tablets, phones and laptops. An attacker could gain access to private information such as passwords and encryption keys from the memory of the exploited device.

How to Protect Yourself and Your Organization

Since discovery of these vulnerabilities, product vendors have started to release patches that will mitigate these issues. Here is some information for your particular product:

• Microsoft: Released a number of updates depending on your operating system. Run Windows update and install all appropriate patches. More updates are coming in the near future.
• Google: Chrome OS was patched December 15th.
• Apple: Released patches to the macOS on December 6th.
• Linux: Testing and releasing patches currently depending on variant.
• All other products: Perform updates on your hypervisors, tablets and cellular phones. Vendors will continue to send out patches for their products.

If you are a Hosted or Managed IT client, we are taking proactive steps to assess the immediate impact and we will reach out if there are any necessary actions needed.

Feel free to contact us to discuss your situation.