As you may have heard, a new and significant vulnerability has been found in the processors powering most computers, servers, and mobile devices across most operating systems including Windows, Android, Chrome, iOS, MacOS and VMWare. Two “speculative execution side-channel attacks” called Meltdown and Spectre exploit this vulnerability and are raising concerns throughout the information technology industry. 

We are actively monitoring the situation and are using presently available solutions to mitigate the risks, including antivirus protection, operating system patches, and CPU microcode updates. We will be updating all managed systems as soon as vendors release their respective patches. As these become available for various platforms, we will be implementing urgent updates to all managed servers and workstations. Please expect a reboot of all managed systems anytime from now through the weekend; there will be a notification pop-up for workstations to alert the user, and we’ll endeavor to reboot any servers outside of normal business hours to minimize workday interruption. 

Please make sure your teams are notified of these expected system updates and reboots and to ensure that all work is saved regularly and often. We will be updating you as more information is made available from the affected vendors. 

Thank you, and enjoy the snow!
Your team at ArcLight