Big technology company players like Google Inc., Microsoft Corp, and Apple Inc. are facing a big problem in protecting internet users from hackers. . Firstly they fixed a bug that can disrupt internet for many websites.
We are looking for ways that can provide maximum internet security without causing a lot of disruption told by Richard Barnes, he worked as a security lead for Mozilla Corp.
Web browsers makers have exchanged thousands messages to make a fix that can make more than 20000 sites go unreachable.
If Hackers have misused theses flaws then they can attack or read or modify communications that claim to be secure. International team of computer scientist has found several problems in known security tools like Green padlock. On Tuesday, National Security Agency has unrevealed one such flaw that is to keep an eye on private network like VPN, NSA.
Internet is weak and vulnerable as they need bugs to fix them. It is decentralized and contributors are interested in communication rather than security. For them security comes second. University of Michigan reveals that 4000 of world’s busiest websites are vulnerable or prone to hack.
The story behind the new bug begun several years ago, People at French Computer science in Lab Inria started looking for flaws and they identified, various programs using communication protocols. They started working on software that deals with Transport Security Layer, this layer is responsible for electronic payment and data which is sensitive like cards information.
They uncovered a problem and named it Freak. Freak was a outcome for decade old U.S policy to limit encryption so that they can easily spy on enemies. It allowed attacker to force another computer to use a smaller export key that can be easily broken.
Log Jam is freak’s cousin as the basic design is of TLS that makes web browsers and other email servers vulnerable. Many computers reuse the same large numbers to generate the keys, making them easier to crack. Researchers say about 8% of the. Sites which are vulnerable to freak are ohio.gov and the medical school and hospital at the University of Chicago. With increased publicity the number of sites vulnerable towards freak has reduced to 6%.
A site which got affected by freak bug, involved in selling quilting fabrics fixed this bug in a matter of 24 hours. Makers of browsers are working on bug fixes. Customers need to keep their system and websites updated to stay safe. Mozilla, Google are working on updates of their versions to combat this problem.
