US Views of Technology and the Future

The Pew Research Center has published a new study on “US Views of Technology and the Future.” Among the findings: 72% of Americans are not interested in getting a brain implant to improve their memory (and who would???). 8% say they want a robot servant (hmm, I would sign up today to have one!). 3% say they want a self-driving car (again, I can really use one!). Only 1% of Americans want jetpacks.

Dealing with the Heartbleed bug

This one is not good at all…

The Heartbleed bug is a major security vulnerability that affects many websites, servers and applications worldwide. The flaw was first discovered in OpenSSL on April 7, 2014.  The flaw, named “Heartbleed,” was discovered in OpenSSL, the tool that provides Internet security for many websites. OpenSSL encrypts sensitive information – such as social security numbers, passwords and credit card numbers – that transfers between your computer and another company. OpenSSL sites are often signified by a lock icon and URL that starts with “https.” The Heartbleed bug allows an attacker to access encrypted information from these sites and steal usernames, passwords and pretty much any other private information.

Take several steps to protect themselves.

  • Monitor the Mashable list of well-known websites and services that have been affected.
  • Use the Heartbleed test tool to investigate whether or not other websites you frequent have been affected.
  • Reset passwords for every online service that has been affected by the Heartbleed bug. Passwords should be changed only after a company has confirmed that they have fixed the Heartbleed vulnerability. Passwords also should be reset for any sites that share the same password, even if an individual site wasn’t vulnerable.
  • Apply the latest security updates to home computers and mobile devices.