![](\"http:\/\/imgs.xkcd.com\/comics\/heartbleed.png\")
<\/p>\nSupport for Windows XP ended today.<\/p>\n
Today, probably the biggest security flaw the Internet has ever had was made public.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2140920\/heartbleed-bug-in-openssl-puts-encrypted-communications-at-risk.html<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The OpenSSL library had a “mistake” introduced in 2011 which could give a third party the ability to extract a server’s private encrpyttion key – which would allow that third party to listen to and decrypt all previous “secure” recordings made of Internet traffic to and from that server – which would then expose usernames and passwords and cookies of anything ever sent over a secure connection.<\/p>\n
This is exactly what Snowden exposed that the NSA had done. The “mistake” was exposed by Google, which at least in public is on the warpath with the NSA and the US Government.<\/p>\n
The OpenSSL library is a fundamental building block of every Internet connected computer. This will affect every computer on the internet, not just XP. The library is often linked into executable objects, which means this hole may be there for some time – it probably will force Microsoft to push an emergency patch to Windows XP.<\/p>\n
There are people “in the know” about who introduced this bug and whether it was a careless oversight or a deliberate compromise of the security of the entire world. Something like OpenSSL has lots of eyeballs reviewing changes. Someone has got some ‘splaining to do. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Support for Windows XP ended today. Today, probably the biggest security flaw the Internet has ever had was made public. http:\/\/www.pcworld.com\/article\/2140920\/heartbleed-bug-in-openssl-puts-encrypted-communications-at-risk.html The OpenSSL library had a “mistake” introduced in 2011 which could give a third party the ability to extract … Continue reading