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Waters

What is Waters doing about the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities? - WKB21908

Article number: 21908

ENVIRONMENT

  • Empower 3
  • Intel chips
  • AMD chips

ANSWER

As of 19 February 2018, Waters is investigating its options in regard to mitigation. Potential mitigation options include the following:

  • Operating System Security updates such as those delivered by Microsoft
  • Hardware fixes such as BIOS updates delivered by the computer manufacturer

Some initial corrections (for example, reboots) are found to have unexpected consequences. Once the investigation process is complete and a robust fix is available, Waters will test the fix with Empower CDS.

What can you do in the interim?

As the referenced article indicates, the first step is to use appropriate security software on the vulnerable devices. Therefore, Waters recommends that you follow your internal procedures regarding the use of and updating of security software. While Waters does not test specific security software, our corporate standard is Symantec.

Do not install BIOS updates on computers supplied by Waters. Depending on the version of Windows loaded, the software image may be protected, and updates to the BIOS may cause the operating system to shut down.

Further Information

As more information is available, this Technical Note will be updated to keep you informed.

NOTE: When making any changes to a system, you should consider the applicable Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and complete the appropriate documentation and validation.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Further information about the vulnerabilities can be found at this link:

Spectre and Meltdown: Details you need on those big chip flaws

id21908, EMP2LIC, EMP2OPT, EMP2SW, EMP3GC, EMP3LIC, EMP3OPT, EMP3SW, EMPGC, EMPGPC, EMPLIC, EMPOWER2, EMPOWER3, EMPSW, SUP

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