• Scan for Meltdown and Spectre with Steve Gibson’s new “InSpectre” utility

    For most of you, Steve Gibson needs no introduction. For the rest of you, look here.

    Steve has a new scanner, just out, that claims to scan your PC and tell you about its Meltdown and/or Spectre susceptibility.

    This InSpectre utility was designed to clarify every system’s current situation so that appropriate measures can be taken to update the system’s hardware and software for maximum security and performance.

    It’s an amazing piece of code from a guy who knows whereof he speaks. Steve just posted it last night, so I expect we’ll see updates and refinements shortly.

    How well does it work?

    You all know that I don’t yet recommend installing the January Meltdown/Spectre patches from Microsoft just yet — and there are NO KNOWN EXPLOITS at this point. But you should get this little utility and stick it in your hip pocket, to keep track of your system’s vulnerabilities.

    My main machine (AMD based) has this InSpectre report:

    As is always the case with Steve’s software, there’s no installer, no flab, no bull.

    Good stuff. Version 1.0, but expect updates momentarily.