The Heartbleed Bug: Is your information protected?

One of the largest internet security threats in history is breaching and compromising many of the websites you use every day. The Heartbleed Bug affects websites using an OpenSSL format, allowing the potential for anyone to access and read any encrypted data sent between your computer and a server. This encryption flaw allows for disclosure of usernames, passwords and other confidential information.

OpenSSL is used by over 60% of websites worldwide, meaning many popular websites and online accounts are compromised. The security breach could have potentially exposed your sensitive account information over the past two years. Websites affected by the Heartbleed Bug include: Google (and Gmail), Yahoo (and Yahoo Mail), Facebook, Amazon, Pinterest, Instagram, Tumblr, YouTube,  Etsy, GoDaddy, Intuit, Flickr, USAA, Box, Dropbox, GitHub, IFTTT, Minecraft, OKCupid, SoundCloud and Wunderlist.

We want to ensure our clients that all of BASIC’s websites (including BASIC Guru), vendor websites and portholes have passed a security assessment by our IT Department, and were never vulnerable to the bug. All of the websites listed above have released a patch for Heartbleed. However, we do recommend that if you have an account belonging to any of the popular sites listed above, you should update your passwords as a security precaution immediately.

BASIC’s continued commitment to security can be viewed at:

https://www.basiconline.com/aboutus/security/

To view more information on the Heartbleed Bug visit:

http://heartbleed.com/