The Heartbleed bug was found in a certain version of OpenSSL last week. How does this bug affect you?
Here is an explanation of the bug in cartoon format: Heartbleed Bug Cartoon
If you are hosting your site with Cullen Web Services, your website was not affected. We didn’t use the version of OpenSSL that had the bug.
If you’ve been using one of the sites out there that DID use that version, your information may have been hacked. There’s not much you can do about that now, but chances are your information is ok. However, to play it safe, you should change your password at those sites – BUT ONLY AFTER they’ve fixed the OpenSSL bug on their site. So, how do you tell when they’ve fixed the bug?
Here is a list of major sites you may have visited that have fixed the bug and those who never had the problem – Change These Passwords
A better way to find out if the sites you visit have been using the OpenSSL version with the bug is to use a password program such as LastPass.
LastPass checked all my passwords and sites that I log into to see if I was safe or not and whether I should change my password. LastPass lets me know when it’s safe to change my password for each site.
I’ve been using LastPass for a while because it makes it so easy to ‘remember’ all my passwords, share them with colleagues and family, create good passwords without having to remember them, and allows me to change the passwords without having to keep up with which password I’ve used for which site. I love it.
Hopefully, the heartbleed bug was found by security experts before too many, if any, hackers found the bug. We may never know until our information is misused – chances are that if your information hasn’t been misused by now, then it won’t be – at least not from this bug. UNLESS of course, the sites you are visiting don’t fix the bug. Ask them! Check them with a tool like LastPass.
Again, if you have your website and SSL from Cullen Web Services, you can let your visitors know that all is well. Their information is safe with you.