74% of Consumers are Concerned About Meltdown and Spectre

by Wilson Ye

We just released data that shows a large percentage of consumers are  concerned about Meltdown and Spectre, two vulnerabilities that could  permit attackers to gain unauthorized access to a computer’s memory.  According to a January 2018 survey sent to 8000 of our users, 74 percent  are either “Extremely Concerned” or “Somewhat Concerned” about the  threats.

Meltdown and Spectre are flaws that affect nearly all modern  processors, including chips from Intel, AMD, and those with ARM-based  architectures, and can only be mitigated through operating system  patches. Of the two, Meltdown poses the greater threat because it is  easier to exploit and affects all kinds of computers, including personal  computers and virtual machines in the cloud.

Our CEO had this response to the data:

“It is actually a really good sign that consumers are  paying such close attention to these issues,” said Allan Zhang, CEO and  co-founder of Trustlook. “Too often the public is criticized for not  being diligent enough with their device security. So, the silver lining  with Meltdown and Spectre is that it’s forced everyone to focus greater  attention on security.”

Trustlook’s study revealed the following attitudes about Meltdown and Spectre:

  • 38% Extremely Concerned
  • 36% Somewhat Concerned
  • 14% Not Very Concerned
  • 12% Absolutely No Concern

For more information on Meltdown and Spectre, please visit https://meltdownattack.com.