WHAT IS HEARTBLEED, HOW DOES IT AFFECT USERS AND HOW TO PREVENT IT

This error was present in OpenSSL, a library that is used by multiple websites to encrypt the information provided by visitors.

OpenSSL is a service used by 56% of websites, so they may have been vulnerable while this problem was active.

The fact that a website has been vulnerable to this security flaw does not mean that it has been under an attack. Specifically, it means that during that time, any user with advanced computer knowledge and knowledge of the error could have obtained the encrypted information from those sites, such as passwords and customer data, without the website supervisors being able to detect the intrusion.

As the researchers have pointed out, in the first instances, no hacker was able to find this error before the discoverers of Google and Codenomicon.

Websites that present a status of vulnerability to hearbleed, they will have to carry out an urgent update, installing a security patch to prevent the data from continuing to be vulnerable. Once this update has been made, users are recommended to change their sensitive information such as passwords, secret questions, and, as far as possible, their emails, although the latter is a bit extreme.

According to mashable.com, several websites were compromised and publishes a comparative list of how they were affected and the recommendations to follow to avoid future problems. See Note (English).

Others, such as Diario ABC in Spain, indicate that several online banks could be exposed to the problem. See note

Several computer security experts have provided online tools to check the security of websites, here You can test if a website has heartbleed problems. Visit Test Heartbleed

And you... have you already taken the necessary precautions?

Sources consulted: Mashable, ABC