What is Love, Baby Don’t Hurt Me?
Most of you have probably heard of the issue with web security that has appeared over the last few days – it’s called Heartbleed and it is a flaw in the coding of a major source of Internet security. The flaw has been around for a couple of years – it was just noticed the other day and companies around the Internet sprang to action, fixing the flaw and double-checking their systems. Here at NEKLS, Ryan updated servers and made sure we were protected the day the news hit, so your KLOW sites are safe! However, since the flaw was in the software for 2 years before anyone noticed, most security experts are advising that any password you have used on the Internet should be discarded and new passwords put into place.
The Mashable website has a page where they are posting which Internet services have, and have not, been affected by this bug. You can head over there to see which of your favorite sites used this buggy software and which ones need to have new passwords. Be careful about changing passwords before you get that “Go”, though. If you change your password while the buggy version is still in place, it can still be compromised!
Lastpass, the online password manager, has already put together a tool that will tell you which of the services you have in your password vault are compromised and which ones need a new password. If you already use that tool, check that feature out and change whatever passwords it tells you to change immediately!
As of right now, no attacks or compromised systems have been reported, but keep a close eye on your various banking and credit accounts anyway, just in case. Feel free to call Ryan or Robin any time if you have questions about any of these various Internet scares – we’ll be happy to talk to you about what you need to do to stay safe!