Blogs

April 15, 2014

Why SSL?

The internet community is buzzing about the “Heartbleed Bug” and “OpenSSL”. At the heart of the “HeartBleed Bug” is SSL, the secure socket layer. So what is SSL and what role does it play in our internet transactions? The Sockets in the “Secure Sockets Layer” refers to a protocol used by any “client” to communicate with a “server”. A “client” is any web browser, email client or program initiating the transaction. The “server” is the program that fulfills the request of the client. When the internet started getting used in the early nineties outside the “geek” circles, software programs for banking, e-commerce and a multitude other purposes started getting built and used. However, software researchers needed to find a way to stop sensitive data being transferred transparently over the internet so that it could not be stolen by unscrupulous parties. Due to this need to protect credit card numbers, banking […]
April 13, 2014

What the HeartBleed Security Bug Means to an Internet User?

                                                          All of us use devices connected to the internet every single day, whether it is to browse the web, get our financial information or connect to our children’s schools. So it is essential for us to understand the implications of the HeartBleed Bug for us as an internet user. In this article, we explain the HeartBleed bug in a layman’s language and its impact upon the regular user. When you submit any information on the internet, whether it is a keyword or phrase that you are searching on Google or a username for logging into a secure website, your query is converted into a coded message or encrypted to insure its security from an ‘eavesdropper’. The security flaw termed as the […]