Is Your Antivirus Blocking Microsoft's Chip Patch?

Non every Windows computer is receiving Microsoft's patch to address the "Meltdown" and "Spectre" vulnerabilities. The problem? Certain tertiary-political party antivirus products can conflict with the fix.

SecurityWatch On Wednesday, Microsoft began releasing the patch, but with an important caveat: the security update will only arrive for computers running compatible antivirus software. All other computers are actually improve off without the prepare because for them, the security update can trigger errors, including the Bluish Screen of Death.

Microsoft is working with the antivirus industry to solve the problem. Only a "small number" of products disharmonize with the patch, the company said, though it did non name names.

In the meantime, security expert Kevin Beaumont has compiled a list of security products that can successfully run the patch, which includes antivirus software from the top players.

Microsoft'due south patch is designed to address 2 serious design flaws in computer fries that tin can be used to steal sensitive data from your PC. For months at present, major tech vendors accept been quietly developing safeguards against the vulnerabilities under a strict embargo. Just news of the flaw leaked earlier this week, forcing antivirus companies to scramble to verify their products piece of work with the fix.

Vendors including Bitdefender, McAfee, and Trend Micro say they're even so testing Microsoft's security update, though some versions of their software are ready. To receive the Microsoft patch, an antivirus product has to prepare a Windows registry central on the calculator. For at present, some vendors take decided to hold off on automatically setting that key until more testing is done.

To download Microsoft's patch on your ain, you have to manually set the Windows registry key on your computer. Microsoft and antivirus vendors accept published instructions on how to do it, merely modifying the Windows Registry incorrectly can cause serious issues, and then continue with caution.

For more information on how you can protect yourself from the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities, check out PCMag's explainer. To go all the protections, users are advised to install new patches from software and hardware makers as they get in.