E-Merchants Worried About Heartbleed’s Potential for Data Theft
Web merchants are worried over the Heartbleed Bug, a security flaw that could help hackers steal credit card numbers and other consumer data from within servers that run e-commerce sites. The flaw involves the free, widely used OpenSSL Web encryption tools, which enable website operators to encrypt such data as passwords and payment information. E-commerce operators and other potentially affected businesses have conceded the bug is serious, but reassured consumers that security has been or is being shored up. Amazon, Google, and other major e-commerce players were reportedly found to be secure from Heartbleed following testing. Among the remedial steps experts suggest e-commerce operators should follow are testing their Web infrastructure for flaws, contacting their Web security vendors to get corrective software patches, revoking and reissuing SSL certificates, and monitoring for a rise in chargebacks and other potential fraud indicators. Still, experts estimate that as much as 66 percent of websites worldwide could be impacted by the bug.
From “The ‘Heartbleed’ Bug Has E-Retailers’ Hearts Racing With Anxiety”
Internet Retailer (04/09/14) Rueter, Thad