Heartbleed Bug Not Affecting VEC Systems

The good news is that VEC systems are not affected by the Heartbleed bug that is receiving a lot of attention on the internet and the media.

 Our VE-Bill and the payment gateway do not run the version of OpenSSL that is at risk.

What is Heartbleed?

Heartbleed is the name given to an internet encryption flaw that left many websites using OpenSSL vulnerable to possible data theft. OpenSSL is the most popular open source cryptographic library and TLS (transport layer security) implementation used to encrypt traffic on the Internet (the little lock symbol displayed on the web browser when you log in). Your popular social site, commerce site, hobby site, site you install software from or even sites run by your government might be using vulnerable OpenSSL.

Why should I care?

You are likely to be affected either directly or indirectly. Many websites that you or your family use may have been vulnerable.  Most are updating and eliminating the problem this week.  Email addresses and passwords may have been taken from one of the vulnerable sites.

What can I do?

You can change your password on sites that were affected. Attached is a list from mashable.com of the internet’s commonly used sites and their Heartbleed status.  Take a look at the list and note if a password change is recommended.