To all of my Facebook friends that have computers and online accounts (Im guessing that is all of you): You have probably heard of the computer bug called Heart Bleed by now, but if you havent, I am going to do my best to explain what the bug is, how it affects you, and what you need to do to protect yourself. Basically, Heart Bleed is a bug or flaw in the code that allows secure Internet connections, like when you go to a website that starts with HTTPS and then you see a lock icon appear in your browsers address bar. Heart Bleed allows hackers to see the contents of the memory in web servers that are affected by the bug, allowing them access to the encryption codes necessary to decrypt your secure connections. In essence, it allows a hacker to see all of your secure transactions in plain text, including usernames and passwords of some or all of your online accounts. The Heart Bleed bug is NOT a virus or other malware, so there is really isnt much you need to do on your end other than to change all of your online passwords. However, before you can change your passwords, you need to make sure that your online service provider i.e. Facebook, Google, your bank, etc. has updated or patched their web servers with the updated code that fixes the Heart Bleed bug. I found a pretty good article on CNET that has compiled a list of the top 100 sites across the Web and checked to see if the Heart Bleed bug was patched on them. You will see that a lot of these sites were not even affected by the bug. If any of your online services are not on this list, then I recommend that you contact them directly (i.e. call your bank or financial institution) and ask them whether they are affected by Heart Bleed bug, and if so, whether they have patched their sites or not. Once you confirm that their web servers have been fixed, change your passwords immediately: cnet/how-to/which-sites-have-patched-the-heartbleed-bug/
Posted on: Sun, 13 Apr 2014 17:55:14 +0000
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