Spectre and Meltdown are awful. That much goes without saying. When a vulnerability in the heart of the CPU can bring your secure authentication efforts to naught, it's a bad thing.
But in addition to the obvious security threats, there could be significant impact on an organization's budgets, schedules, vendor relationships, and product plans. And for many companies, these "secondary" effects could have far more impact than the initial security vulnerabilities
While the basic impact of Spectre and Meltdown lies deep within a silicon wafer, the real impact could be felt in boardrooms, datacenters, and product planning meetings around the globe. Whether the planning is involved is for products for sale, internal projects, or capital expenses, you can expect to see an impact from Spectre and Meltdown.
Here, then, are seven implications of Spectre/Meltdown that might not have been at the top of your list of worries, but that should be on your radar.
(Image: Myriams-Fotos, via Pixabay)