Personally, I’m not worried about Heartbleed, the recently exposed encryption flaw that has affected the majority of the internet. I don’t have a lot of important information on the internet except for my Stumbleupon preferences and a very respectable Candy Crush score. However, for those of you with stock portfolios and blackmail photos of local politicians, here’s a rundown of the things you need to be concerned about with regards to your internet security.
Who should be concerned? Everyone who uses the internet for more than funny cat pictures. Estimates are two-thirds of the internet has been affected, and so it’s more than likely you’ve been directly or indirectly affected by the leak. The downside is there’s not really much you can do about it. The damage at this point is done. However, Mashable has made this great list of passwords that may have been compromised. As well, password security firm LastPass has set up a Heartbleed Checker, where you can enter a URL and see if it could have been compromised.
Feeling stressed? Take a break and read this.
Okay, feeling better now? Let’s continue.
It’s important to wait until a particular website has given the “all-clear” before you change your password on it, because changing the password on a compromised website is like changing the oil in a burning car. Facebook, Google, WordPress, Amazon Web Services and Akamai have all reportedly issued patches for the leak. Otherwise the only thing you should be doing is keeping an eye on sensitive accounts like email and online banking and make sure there are no odd changes.
Still stressed? Watch this.
By the way, who is branding this leak? It has a logo and everything.
What Sparks Our Fire: Our fire isn’t particularly sparked, but as our valued readers, we feel this is something you should know.
Are you concerned by this breach?
