The scandal of the Intel and AMD processor vulnerabilities known as Meltdown and Specter is a problem that affects practically all devices on the planet, including Apple's iOS devices such as iPhone or iPad as well as MacOS. This means that all these devices are vulnerable to the theft of data and information by any hacker who decides to obtain them. The safest solution of all would be to replace the CPU of our iPhone or iPad, however this seems to be totally unfeasible, partly because of the cost and partly because there is still no processor that does not have such vulnerability.
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That is why the most feasible solution today is software improvement. In this way, the security holes of the processors can be closed by implementing certain measures in the operating system or in the apps. The cost in terms of performance is not yet clear, which this type of security measure will have on our iOS or macOS device ..
Some studies warn that solving the problem using the Software would have a negative impact on the performance of our device between 5 and 25%. This may be acceptable for many users who have state-of-the-art devices with quite powerful hardware, however users with older devices could be seriously penalized.
Be that as it may, Apple has just released an update for its iOS and MacOS operating system. This security update is specially developed to mitigate the risk of hacking using the Meltdown and Specter vulnerabilities . However, Apple does not mention anything about the possible decrease in performance of its devices after installing the security update. You do not know if the absence of this information is due to the fact that there is really no such drop in performance or that you prefer not to alarm your users after the scandal that occurred with the drop in performance of iOS devices with the excuse of avoiding incidents with batteries..
Having said this, we show you step by step how to protect your iOS device or MacOs against the Meltdown and Specter vulnerability :
Mitigate the Meltdown and Specter vulnerabilities on iOS (iPhone or iPad) with the new update 11.2.2
1. All you have to do is open the Settings app and line followed by accessing the General option. Once here, look for and select the option Software Update.
2. After a few seconds you will see how the available update iOS 11.2.2 is shown on the screen which you must download and install on your device. If you want you can click on the offered link to access more information about it..
However, we anticipate that the information is minimal, basically it is limited to informing that this update is security and that it is recommended to install it. On the Web, they simply say the following: “ In order to protect our customers, Apple will not disclose, discuss, or confirm security issues until an investigation has been conducted and the necessary revisions or versions are available. Recent versions are listed in this document. ”
Mitigate Meltdown and Specter vulnerabilities in MacOS High Sierra and Safari for El Capitan and Sierra
1. In case you have a MacOS Sierra computer, you should know that the updates that are available to mitigate the Meltdown and Specter vulnerabilities are: MacOS 10.13.2 and Safari 11.0.2. That said, to install these updates you will have to open the Apple menu and select the App Store option.
2. Once the App Store is open, you'll need to select the Updates tab, which will cause your MacOS device to search for available updates.
- MacOS High Sierra users will be shown the update: macOS High Sierra 10.13.2 Supplemental Update; which you must install.
- Users of MacOS Sierra and Mac OS X El Capitan will be shown the update: Safari 11.0.2. This is the update that you must install, however if it will not be shown in the App Store, you must install any other available update that contains the following description: Security update.
It should be remembered that this security update for iOS and MacOS is not a definitive solution to the problem of the Meltdown and Specter vulnerabilities of the processors of Apple devices. As can be read on the official Apple website, the company will not make any announcement or statement about the security holes caused by the processors until the currently open investigation is completed.
