SOFTWARE UPDATE

Press reports state that software will need updating to defend against hackers exploiting weaknesses in INTEL chips.

We use MAC BOOK PRO with OS 10.12.6

but have not yet noticed any Software Update notification.

Has there been such an update and is it reliable enough to implement now?

Or have I missed something?

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Spectre will be dealt with via a Safari update (11.0.2 is the patched version). As far as I know that should work fine on Sierra.

As far as I can tell, there has not yet been a patch for Sierra or El Capitan for Meltdown (I'd expect one at some point, since neither are "legacy" yet), but High Sierra is already patched - insofar as anything is patched for these issues.

This vulnerabilities are tricky to deal with since they are not so much bugs as flaws in the design philosophy or all (well, most) modern chips.

Not sure how much that helps, but maintaining good security practices remains the best advice.

Various patches released for Sierra (10.12.6) and El Capitan (10.11.6), including Meltdown.

Link

Yep - out now. If they don't show up giving a quick refresh can often list them (Apple seems to have a gradual propagation for pushing updates, presumably to manage load on the verification servers)

Many thanks to the contributors for the helpful info on SOFTWARE UPDATES.