News
-
04 2014
Heartbleed Bug: Tech firms urge password reset
Several tech firms are urging people to change all their passwords after the discovery of a major security flaw. The Yahoo blogging platform Tumblr has advised the public to "change your passwords everywhere - especially your high-security services like email, file storage and banking". Security advisers have given similar warnings about the Heartbleed Bug. It follows news that a product used to safeguard data could be compromised to allow eavesdropping. OpenSSL is a popular cryptographic library used to digitally scramble sensitive data as it passes to and from computer servers so that only the service provider and the intended recipients can make sense of it. Read More
-
04 2014
Online security flaw exposes millions of passwords
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — An alarming lapse in Internet security has exposed millions of passwords, credit card numbers and other sensitive bits of information to potential theft by computer hackers who may have been secretly exploiting the problem before its discovery. The breakdown revealed this week affects the encryption technology that is supposed to protect online accounts for emails, instant messaging and a wide range of electronic commerce. Security researchers who uncovered the threat, known as "Heartbleed," are particularly worried about the breach because it went undetected for more than two years. Read More
-
04 2014
After warning users off IE, what do the security watchdogs say now?
Earlier this week, authorities across the globe were rushing to advise users to minimise or stop their use of Internet Explorer. Now that the flaw that prompted those warnings has been patched, should they take back their warnings? "Don't use Internet Explorer, unless it is absolutely, absolutely necessary, and then, still use the Secure Mode," the Netherlands' technology cops advised the country's Twitter users on Wednesday. The Dutch police's Team High Tech Crime (THTC) probably didn't make friends at Microsoft by trashing its browser on Twitter, especially since the tweet encouraged users to switch to Opera, Firefox, Safari, and Chrome as "safer alternatives". Read More