The “Heartbleed bug” is a flaw in the OpenSSL encryption standard that is used by half a million websites which was uncovered on April 7. Most websites that require a password to access use OpenSSL encryption to “scramble” the data transferred between your computer and the website’s server. OpenSSL has since been patched and millions of websites – many that you likely use – are being updated and new encryption certificates and keys are being issued.
So what does this all mean for the average computer user? [Read more…]