Safeguard Your Online Life Against Heartbleed Bug
Have you tried accessing your email or social media account and thought why you cannot log in and change your password? Your account could be compromised with the biggest Internet security threat called Heartbleed bug.
Prompting to change password is a result of the server update that different Internet sites did as precautionary measure after the issue on the Heartbleed bug was exposed.
According to the Codenomicon blog, many security engineers and Google discovered the very sophisticated bug. The online life of Internet users worldwide is at risk. Sensitive data like passwords, personal information and credit card data stored in Open SSL encryptions may have been eavesdropped without notice.
Canada did massive action that the Web portal of Canada Revenue Agency was temporarily shutdown days before the deadline of filing of taxes. On the Web sites' home page a notice was posted about the removal of online access for their online services, particularly EFILE, NETFILE, My Account, My Business Account and represent a client to protect the taxpayer's confidential data.
But the country's big banks are quick to assure their clients on the safety of their confidential data. In a report from Globalnews, the Canadian Bankers Association said its citizens can confidently continue transacting online banking services.
"The online banking applications of Canadian banks have not been affected by the Heartbleed bug," it added.
While big businesses and Internet service providers have quickly taken safety measures, few internet users also have to act quickly and change passwords to safeguard their online info.
Among the confirmed social media accounts that need passwords to be modified include Facebook, IFTTT, Instagram, Pinterest and Tumblr.
Also, users with Google and Yahoo accounts, particularly their email services, also need to change their passwords on these two sites.
Consumers who buy stuff online also have to change their password accounts on Amazon and GoDaddy.
Those who use online services of Intuit (Turbo Tax) and USAA also have to do it.
Even other file-sharing services are not exempted from this Heartbleed bug. Users also have to safeguard their accounts. Users who share files via Dropbox or simply uses Minecraft, OKCupid, SoundCloud, and Wunderlist have to take quick action as well.