Thursday, April 10, 2014

SECURITY - Heartbleed Hacks WEB Security Servers

Heartbleed hacks into the SSL protocol that protects HTTPS sites.

"Security bug Heartbleed could have provided key that unlocks personal online data" PBS NewsHour 4/9/2014

Excerpt

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  You may have heard headlines today about a major lapse in Internet security and the possibility that millions of passwords, credit card numbers, bank information, and commonly used Web sites could have been exposed.

It involves a bug or security leak called Heartbleed, which can be used to read encrypted information.

Hari Sreenivasan gets a breakdown on what you need to know.

HARI SREENIVASAN (NewsHour):  Essentially, Heartbleed can be used to read the memory of computer servers, the places behind a Web site that store your information, including the lock and key system which protects your usernames and passwords.

You probably see this encryption in the form of a green lock when you conduct a transaction and exchange information.  The breach was revealed this week, but apparently has existed for a long time.

Russell Brandom of The Verge, an online site covering tech news, is here to help explain.

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