[ANNC] About Security

[Tom Speirs]

In the light of the Heartbleed exploit I wanted to take a moment to talk about the security of your accounts on the forum.

We are not affected by Heartbleed since we don't run on SSL (https) but that raises another point in that your connection to the forum is not encrypted.

We or I don't keep much in the way of personal information but it should be noted again that your connection to the forum is NOT encrypted so use common sense and use different passwords with your activity online ranging from passwords to use on sites like this and separate ones for more critical sites such as online banking and PayPal.

For admins, Elites and moderators, please ensure your passwords are decent and not easily hacked. I would rather you use something you might forget and ask for my help than something insecure.

Thank you for your time.

PS: Where I do run SSL on other sites it runs on windows and is not affected by Heartbleed.

[hansolo77]

Good to know.

[ehuonder]

Tom, thanks for letting us know us status here!

[KRC]

Apparently the authorities in Canada have made their first arrest regarding this matter.

[Tom Speirs]

Not sure how someone can get arrested for a bug? Sued maybe. Or did someone exploit the bug and get caught?

[KRC]

A guy was caught in Canada hacking into the Canadian Revenue Agency attempting to steal Social Insurance Numbers, I think there is details on the BBC News site.

[Draco1962]

From initial reports he exploited the bug, but we all know how the media is quick to grab the low hanging fruits of what is popular and apply their spin based on partial information to draw concrete conclusions.

[Draco1962]

And they can't even get it right... Police in Ontario, Canada have accused a 19-year-old man with exploiting the Heartbleed computer virus to steal personal data of over 900 taxpayers. Seriously? Since when did a piece of bad code in the OpenSSL software become a virus? Who vets this crap? "Let's use the word virus to make it even more sensational!" It's not a frakkin virus!

[nullPointer]

Well in their defense they are Fox news AKA the cancer that is killing journalistic integrity in the modern age, so I mean their ineptitude is really just a side effect. Perhaps they would understand a nice infographic (ah who am I kidding):

[Tom Speirs]

Fox gives a great example of all what is wrong with the world today and more so in America you poor bastards. Our generation sees it for what it is better than the older folks though who are more sucked into it.

Fortunately we still have the BBC in the UK, at least for the moment.

[Draco1962]

CNN is twice as bad at spin and hype as FOX and some of the others. Their handling of the the Malaysia Airlines coverage was classic. BBC is a good source that I refer to frequently.

[DazzleHP]

I can't believe anyone takes the "News" seriously anymore. Apart from the main (real) news the rest is all "drinking water will kill you", "apples can give you herpes" and "Kim Jong Un has seen himself in the mirror". C'mon!