What You Need to Know About Your Internet Security and the Heartbleed Bug

Unfortunately, the Heartbleed Bug is not another virus warning; it is more serious and affects people and companies all over the world. Fortunately, there are things you can do to protect yourself, your business, and your customers. This internet vulnerability is being called the Heartbleed Bug, but it is not a virus or a bug at all, it is a vulnerability that has been detected in SSL technology that has been there all along. Yes, that means that your personal data, credit card details, and passwords previously passed through SSL secure websites might have already been compromised.

BrandMe Heartbleed

Photo Credit: Mashable

The vulnerability was discovered by Google engineers working with an independent security company named Codenomicon. They produced some answers to questions about this vulnerability problem on a website: www.Heartbleed.com.  Here is how they describe the problem, “The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop on communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users.”

Protecting Yourself Against the Heartbleed Internet Vulnerability

They also developed a patch to Open SSL technology that once applied will prevent data from being exposed or breached. For  a detailed list on what sites were affected and what sites you should change your password to, see this article on Mashable. Going forward, sites will now be more secure, but it is already highly possible that the damage was done. Keep a close eye on your bank accounts, credit card activity, and social posting. Be aware of phishing scams that will surely be hitting the waves very soon. A classic technique for scammers is to try and appeal to a panic in security and there will no doubt be an increase in fake emails being sent asking you to change your passwords. Do not click on links in emails, and always pay attention to the webs address of the website you are on to be sure of its validity.


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