Web security advisory

[kiwi33]

Some members may have noticed articles about the "Heartbleed" Web security flaw. There is a fairly technical account of it here: http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/security-i ... zqsif.html .

Essentially what it means is that there was a flaw in a commonly-used protocol (it is, in effect, a version of the "https" = the "padlock" icon) which people use to send private information (passwords, private e-mails, credit card details, etc) to Web sites - hackers could exploit this flaw to get access to your private information.

What should you do about this?

(1) Be alert but not alarmed.

(2) There is a (long) list of sites which have been checked for "Heartbleed" here: https://github.com/musalbas/heartbleed- ... op1000.txt. If a site that you use is listed as vulnerable it would be sensible to avoid it until the issue is fixed.

(3) If you use Internet banking, contact your bank and check that the flaw (if applicable) has been fixed. My bank sent out an automatic e-mail confirming that their site is not vulnerable to Heartbleed.

Edited to update:

(4) This is the most recent list of vulnerabilities of popular sites that I can find: http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartble ... cid=146326 .

In most cases they are secure but for some changing your password is a good plan (better safe than sorry).

[Jamas]

Thank you, Kiwi!