The Heartbleed bug has been the talk of the tech town with many security experts and online companies offering advice to internet users on how to protect their personal information.
The Heartbleed bug has been operating for the last two years but was only just recently discovered by security analysts. The bug was able to tap into secure internet pages that used “https” and spy on users personal information.
It tapped into OpenSSL sites, which are the most commonly used e-commerce platforms online today. Websites marked with “https” at the start of the URL were widely believed to be safe and secure, but not anymore.
Since news of the bug has been leaked many security firms have been offering their suggestions on ways consumers can protect themselves including changing their passwords and using special online only credit cards. But, all of this may be in vein at this stage as the bug is yet to be completely cleared out.
Many big online companies like Amazon, Ebay and Facebook have spoken out about the bug, offering their suggestions to users.
A Facebook spokesperson said on Wednesday that the company “added protections for Facebook’s implementation of OpenSSL before this issue was publicly disclosed, and we’re continuing to monitor the situation closely.”
“We haven’t detected any signs of suspicious account activity that would suggest a specific action, but we encourage people to take this opportunity to follow good practices and set up a unique password for your Facebook account that you don’t use on other sites,” the Facebook spokesperson said.
An ebay spokesperson announced, “while we always advise our customers to be cautious and aware of the security of their personal accounts, in this case we want to reassure you there is no need to be unduly concerned. When you login to eBay using your user name and password these details were not exposed to the OpenSSL vulnerability.”
Amazon also announced that their site was not affected by the Heartbleed bug and Google also stated that no suspicious activity had been reported on their end either.
Yahoo did admit however, that their site was affected and that they are working to rectify any damage. They are also urging Yahoo email users to change their passwords.
While millions of users could be at risk there has been no final tally on how much data was actually stolen.