When you were a kid, did you ever ask your parents for a cool new toy only to have your request denied because you were in the habit of breaking everything? Your parents would point out your destructive habit and tell you, "This is why we can't have nice things." As an adult, the coolest toy is the Internet and hackers want to break it.
On April 7th, a new bug on the Internet was discovered that's putting millions of users' personal data at risk. Given the name "Heartbleed bug," it's capable of allowing infiltrators to collect information while you are securely browsing a SSL/TLS website. Since SSL/TLS is so widely used, it's very probably that your personal data is at risk.
Heartbleed is a major security hole on Internet Web sites. Whenever you access a web site to log in or type credit card information, the site “encrypts” your data so it is secure as you type it. You may notice the difference between “http” and “https” in the web site address in your browser. The “https” means the web site is encrypting the connection between you and the site so the information you type can only be read at both ends, and not captured in the transmission. The same technology is also used in many VPN connections, so if you connect to a network remotely you might also be affected.
The Heartbleed security hole takes advantage of a security flaw in O...
Email is (and has been) a prime method of communication for businesses of all sizes. With email comes a whole slew of issues that are essentially synonymous with the technology; spam, information overload, phishing, and information privacy. Even Silicon Valley small businesses that only do business locally are at risk of these issues. Personal email accounts are equally at risk. Employing proper precautions and practices whenever communicating via email is very important to prevent the risk of security compromises, monetary loss, and even legality issues.
Your identity has quite a lot of value, especially in the wrong hands. Security firm ZoneAlarm put together some numbers in 2011 concerning identity fraud, and it even shocked us. Let's talk about a few of these statistics and what it means.
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