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💥 Total failure ☢️ Reactor disaster 🖥️ Security flaw
meltdown

meltdown

4 8.1
A flaw in computer chips that lets regular programs read protected memory
  • noun
  • /ˈmɛltdaʊn/
  • Specialized
translation icon : vulnerabilidad Meltdown
  • Experts warned that the meltdown in cybersecurity could expose sensitive data to attackers.
  • Meltdown and Spectre
  • computer meltdown
  • prevent a meltdown

So, aside from using a Raspberry Pi, what can we all do about Spectre and Meltdown?

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Examples

  • The meltdown of international trade and commodity prices since the 3rd quarter of 2008 was part of the explanation for the GDP fall in Argentina.

    Blog text (1)

  • Electronic filing cabinets and paperless offices may be the new norm, but a good hard copy will save you if you experience a technology meltdown.

    Blog text (8)

  • Outside of server products that can command high profits, Microsoft's consumer software history over the past decade has included such memorable events as the Windows XP security meltdown that wasn't mitigated until its fourth Service Pack (a problem big enough for Apple to drive its "Get a Mac" bus through).

    Blog text (27)

  • The recent hardware meltdown affected millions of computers worldwide, raising concerns about security.

  • After the meltdown was discovered, software updates were urgently required to protect user information.

Compounds

nuclear meltdown
  • Specialized
5 7.2

A very dangerous accident in a nuclear power plant when the reactor gets too hot and releases radiation

Surface Forms

meltdown singular
meltdowns plural

Morphology

meltdown = melt + down (semi-transparent) = melt + down

The vulnerability name is a technical, metaphorical use of 'meltdown' to indicate a catastrophic breakdown of isolation; the naming is metaphorical and domain-specific.

Etymology

Meltdown was also used as the name for a computer security bug because the flaw made protected memory seem to 'melt away' from its safe place, letting ordinary programs read it. So the name meltdown shows how the computer's protection broke down like something melting.