heartbleed
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There has been a lot of buzz on the internet this week about the “Heart Bleed” bug that has affected major websites such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, and more.  Essentially MANY of the websites we visit each day have been potentially compromised by this bug.

The Heart Bleed Bug Explained

The Heart Bleed bug is a vulnerability that effect how secure websites talk to a requester that is asking for information.  Here is a great video that explains what it is:

If you want a more technical in depth explanation, Vox has a great article here

Which Websites Were affected?

Mashable, an online news magazine, put together a great list of major websites that were affected and what the companies said in response to the situation.
You can click on the image below, or go here to read that article: http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartbleed-bug-websites-affected/

But is YOUR Website Affected with the Heartbleed Bug?

https
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If you run a site on an SSL, then you may be affected.  So what does that mean?  go to your website and look at the top in the browser.

If it says ‘https’  and has a little lock (like the picture on the right) then you are running on a secure server.

If it just says ‘http’, then you are not and your site should be fine.  If in doubt, call your web hosting company.  We use BlueHost and WpEngine for our web hosting and we don’t use any SSL because our shopping cart system (1ShoppingCart/MarketersChoice) handles that for us.  So for most of us, the answer is going to be NO your WordPress site is not affected.

Bottom Line: What Should We All Do Now?

Answer: Change your passwords once the affected sites have said that they have patched the bug, and keep your passwords unique across the web.  And Contact your web host IF you installed an SSL Certificate (if you do not know what I am talking about, then you probably don’t have one)

Check the Mashable List here of sites that might have been infected with the Heart Bleed Bug

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