Watch for the revelation of eight new flaws discovered in the processors at the heart of your computers. Called "Spectre-Next Generation" or "Spectre-NG," experts have classified some of these new vulnerabilities as high risk.
The newly discovered flaws are said to allow attackers with access to a computer the ability to bypass passwords and secret keys to secure transmissions. They are related to the Spectre and Meltdown flaws revealed earlier in 2018. The vulnerabilities allow malicious computer programs to read data that are normally protected deep within a computer, including its kernel.
The discoveries apparently were made by Google security researchers about three months ago. Google follows a policy of privately notifying affected companies 90 days before publicizing the discovery of security vulnerabilities, giving developers the opportunity to create patches for security holes. For more information, watch for news about Spectre-NG. https://thehackernews.com/2018/05/intel-spectre-vulnerability.html
What does this mean for you? Precautions to safeguard your data are even more important. Whether you store files locally, in the cloud or both places, your first defenses against data loss are redundant backups. Don't rely on a single backup system for protection.
In addition, use the best affordable technology available to protect against attacks on your computers and devices.