Internet security researchers say people should not rush to change their passwords after the discovery of a widespread "catastrophic" software flaw that could expose website user details to hackers.
The flaw, dubbed "Heartbleed", could reveal anything which is currently being processed by a web server – including usernames, passwords and cryptographic keys being used inside the site. Those at risk include Deutsche Bank, Yahoo and its subsidiary sites Flickr and Tumblr, photo-sharing site Imgur, and the FBI.
About half a million sites worldwide are reckoned to be insecure. "Catastrophic is the right word," commented Bruce Schneier, an independent security expert. "On the scale of 1 to 10, this is an 11."
But suggestions by Yahoo and the BBC that people should change their passwords at once – the typical reaction to a security breach – could make the problem worse if the web server hasn't been updated to fix the flaw, says Mark Schloesser, a security researcher with Rapid7, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Doing so "could even increase the chance of somebody getting the new password through the vulnerability," Schloesser said, because logging in to an insecure server to change a password could reveal both the old and new passwords to an attacker. Full story...
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The flaw, dubbed "Heartbleed", could reveal anything which is currently being processed by a web server – including usernames, passwords and cryptographic keys being used inside the site. Those at risk include Deutsche Bank, Yahoo and its subsidiary sites Flickr and Tumblr, photo-sharing site Imgur, and the FBI.
About half a million sites worldwide are reckoned to be insecure. "Catastrophic is the right word," commented Bruce Schneier, an independent security expert. "On the scale of 1 to 10, this is an 11."
But suggestions by Yahoo and the BBC that people should change their passwords at once – the typical reaction to a security breach – could make the problem worse if the web server hasn't been updated to fix the flaw, says Mark Schloesser, a security researcher with Rapid7, based in Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Doing so "could even increase the chance of somebody getting the new password through the vulnerability," Schloesser said, because logging in to an insecure server to change a password could reveal both the old and new passwords to an attacker. Full story...
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- Social media: Weapon of PsyWar and you’re the target...
- The corporate state of surveillance...
- Edward Snowden's not the story. The fate of the internet is...
- Google's spymasters are now worried about your secrets...
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