Securing Your Digital Presence in the Wake of the Heartbleed Bug
The digital world is still reeling from the Heartbleed Bug, which hit the wire in early April 2014. Many web services and firmware developers rushed to patch things up, but due to the nature of the bug, it is impossible to tell who exactly has been compromised. However, not every web service has completed their work on patching their operations against this bug, which means that many online users are still vulnerable. Heartbleedcheck.com is a fantastic tool for testing whether a particular website is vulnerable.
Finding Out What’s Safe
You’ll need to resort to some in-depth maneuvering on Google to really find out which services are completely safe. Some companies have details about the Heartbleed Bug emblazoned across their blog and home page, just so users know that they’re now patched and ready to receive your updated passwords.
However, there are many online services, hardware companies, and developers that aren’t making these updates very clear. For example, phone and router manufacturing companies like Cisco and Apple have information regarding Heartbleed that isn’t immediately apparent from their home pages. Rather, consumers must go digging press releases and security details to get the latest scoop on product updates regarding Heartbleed.
Tech publications like Mashable have been releasing updated lists that help readers quickly identify services that have been patched, so that you can proceed with updating your passwords. Bookmark one of these update lists and check in every week to see which services you can safely action on.
Get a Password Manager
Unfortunately, since many service are still up in the air, it sounds like we’ll be cycling through new passwords for quite some time. This can lead to major confusion whenever you log onto a web service. Did you change your password yet? Or was it the other new one? Instead of trying to manage your countless passcodes in your mind, software like OnePassword or LastPass can keep track of it for you.
Not only do these solutions hang onto your passwords, they can also generate super secure passwords for you. These include combinations of numbers, words, and character that are unlikely to be guessed by hackers and their password breaking software. These secure codes can be simply copied and pasted from your password manager into a login screen. It can be argued that random password generators are more secure, because they use words and phrases that don’t have personal relevance in your life. Birthdays, locations, pet names, and other personal data can help hackers socially engineer your passwords.
Watch the News
It’ll be an annoyance, but web users should continue to keep an eye out for continued Heartbeat coverage. Since so much is unknown regarding the repercussions of this bug, it is likely that major updates regarding affected systems will continues to appear in the news. You might want to consider adding a Heartbleed category to your RSS feed software or creating a Google News alert for relevant articles, which can be forwarded to your email inbox.
It can be impossible to monitor individual company websites for updates regarding their own services. Luckily, most companies are emailing their customers with relevant update information, so be sure to keep an eye out on your inbox and take action whenever needed.
Remain Diligent
Heartbleed gave Internet users a very sobering reminder of the potential risks. So much of our lives are governed by online services and networking hardware. If you haven’t already been taking password security seriously, now is the time to start. Don’t let your passwords stagnate, and don’t use the same words and phrases over and over. Hackers are banking on poor security hygiene and looking for easy marks to take advantage of. Don’t just hand these threats the keys to your life. Additionally, you need to check the SSL certificates of the websites you’re visiting, so that you don’t accidentally provide your user name and password to a hacker posing as a legitimate company.
It is likely that web threats like Heartbleed will become an occasional occurrence as security experts discover and protect us against new breaches in systems that we all rely on. You can use password managers to make sense of the chaos. Business owners and online retailers can protect their digital audiences by using secure web hosting with site authentication and newer security features like SiteLock, which automatically scans websites for malware and other vulnerabilities.
Essentially, web audiences should be able to verify the identity of the websites they are visiting. The main steps you can take right now to combat these risks are to remain aware of web service updates, keep an eye on the news, check website authentication certificates, and action on password changes immediately.
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