Ojo Technology cautions security systems customers when trying to remedy recently identified CPU vulnerabilities. The Meltdown and Spectre CPU bugs allows hackers to steal information from the memory of other programs. Intel Desktop and Server CPUs are at the greatest risk. Current remedies are limited to OS and application patches and BIOS upgrades for hardware. But, applying these fixes can cause performance degradation resulting in unresponsive systems and the loss of video recording capabilities.
Intel and Microsoft advise adopting the bug fixes only after a thorough vetting in an offline/non-production environment.
At Ojo Technology, we now recommend avoiding the currently available fixes. We believe the risk outweighs the benefits. We recommend continuing the standard precautions for security system components – limiting physical and remote access, strict password polices, firewall and anti-virus maintenance, logging, etc.
For additional information, numerous sites have posted on this issue, here’s a useful one: https://blog.barkly.com/meltdown-spectre-bugs-explained.
Ojo Technology is now a Convergint Company