Y2K was real: was Major Intel Memory Vulnerability

[techlists at phpcoderusa.com]

I'm not sure how one can compare Y2K with Meltdown and Spectre.  We know 
there was a point when Y2K would become a problem.  That was 1/1/2000... 
Meltdown and Spectre are different.  Millions of computers and maybe 
even more devices and embedded systems are affected today. We have no 
time to fix.  No fix by date.  The other issue is 18 years ago we were 
just beginning to rely on computers. Today we have a generation that 
does not know what not having computers, cellular, or smart phones would 
be like.  Maybe I am being overly dramatic... However I think Meltdown 
and Spectre are by far bigger than Y2K.

And the solution? Fix a hardware issue with software.  Yikes.  Apply a 
patch that a hacker can remove and apply their's and own a computer or a 
network of computers. Just think of the possibilities.  What if it is a 
computer that manages nuclear launch sequence? Maybe it is your banks 
computer system...  I wish I were naive enough to think everything will 
be ok.

We need to wise up.  We are in a pickle.  We have been in a pickle.  
Look at at the data breaches over the past year.  The Experian data 
breach effects all of us. By the way Experian is a private company that 
holds all your financial data. Sounds like they are violating our 
privacy.  3 or 4 years ago the Maricopa college system was breach. If 
you attended classes or even one class at Maricopa Community College you 
could be effected.  The one I like the most is the guy to took a disk 
home that contained 2.6 million veterans data and his house was 
burglarized and the disk was at large for several days.  We were told no 
one accessed that data. I trust my Government so I am sure they are 
right.

Computers come with a lot of great befits, however there sure seems to 
be a big price for those benefits.




On 2018-01-05 23:48, Steve Litt wrote:
> On Fri, 05 Jan 2018 11:27:38 -0700
> Eric Oyen <eric.oyen at icloud.com> wrote:
> 
>> oh boy. This sounds like another Y2K problem, only this one has some
>> reality about it and real consequences.
> 
> Y2K was completely real, and would have had real consequences if our
> society hadn't taken three years to fix most of it. We were fortunate
> that in those days society was willing to put in hard work to fix a
> future problem, rather than "kicking the can down the road."
> 
> Between 1984 and 1991 I wrote plenty of software using 2 digit years.
> So did everyone else. Much of the Cobol from the 1960's onward used 2
> digit dates to save memory, which was very precious back then. Much of
> that software was still used in 1999, and some is still used today. It
> got fixed.
> 
> It's speculation what would have happened if our entire society hadn't
> pitched in and fixed most software in 1997-1999, but it's my opinion
> that if we'd done then what we'd surely do now (call it somebody else's
> problem, keep prioritizing our own little lives and those of our
> corporations, and do nothing), we'd be bartering gold for tuna and 
> water
> for bullets.
> 
> None of this is to imply that Meltdown and Spectre aren't a very big
> deal. Just don't think Y2K was no big deal because we did the necessary
> work to fix it proactively.
> 
> SteveT
> 
> Steve Litt
> December 2017 featured book: Thriving in Tough Times
> http://www.troubleshooters.com/thrive
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