Is Your Gaming Rig Safe? Protect Your Gaming Rig from Intel and AMD Issues
Intel and AMD processors are making the headlines, but the reasons are far from positive. A recently discovered security flaw in these processors propose trouble for computers everywhere.
What are these vulnerabilities that compromised so many machines? How will these security risks effect gamers and their high performance rigs? Is your computer at risk? If so, what can you do to protect it?
Read this article and make sure your gaming rig doesn’t get affected by Intel or AMD vulnerabilities. If you have any questions, or need your computer secured by a professional, don’t hesitate to contact us. We are here to protect your gaming rig.
Two Vulnerabilities That Compromised Computer Security
A team of computer security researchers recently caught the risks posed by Intel and AMD processors. In short, a bug in Intel’s chips allows unprecedented access to the computer’s kernel. This is the center of your computer’s operations; the brain and the heart of your machine.
The researchers tested these errors with attacks on these vulnerabilities. They named these attacks Meltdown and Spectre. They discovered that when these bugs were exploited, it’s possible for a computer program to access permissions it shouldn’t. With this access, it is possible to steal personal data from the machine.
The Meltdown attack proved an outside, malevolent program could access restricted programs and computer functions. Once given permission to access these functions, the program is capable of completely destroying the computer’s functionality. The Meltdown attack only affects processors with Intel chips.
The Specter attack demonstrated the vulnerability of secure data on an AMD or Intel processor. Once the vulnerability was exploited, the researchers were able to steal user data from other applications running on the computer.
How Intel and AMD Vulnerabilities Affect Gamers
While patch-work solutions for the Spectre and Meltdown have recently been released, gamers may still be at risk to these processor insecurities.
Do you play any multi-man online (MMO) games that link you with other player’s computers? By accessing your game’s online server, you may be vulnerable to an attack from another computer. Since the basis of many online games is the community of players, this risk can reduce the safety of your gaming rig.
While these security issues don’t affect some ‘average’ computer users, gamers tend to have sophisticated, expensive machines. If you’re a serious gamer, double check if your model of processor has been affected, and learn everything you can about these vulnerabilities.
Protect Your Gaming Rig with West County Computers
If you want to be sure that your gaming rig is protected and safe from these issues, contact West County Computers. We service all kinds of personal computers and we specialize in high-end gaming rigs. Read more about us and the services we have for you. Keep your computer healthy and alive with our help!