Apple and Google users being spied on for a decade because of ‘Freak’ security flaw

9 years ago | Posted in: Technology | 852 Views

A huge security flaw in Apple and Google devices leaves phone and computer users vulnerable to hacking when they go to supposedly secure websites, according to researchers.

Those using most major computing devices could be listened in on when they go to websites, allowing them to steal passwords and other information.

The flaw seems to have come from an old US government policy that didn’t allow companies to export products with “export-grade” encryption, according to researchers, which meant computers and software sold outside of the US had weak security.

Though that rule was lifted in the late 1990s, the weak security had already been built into many computers and so continued to allow hackers and other people to gain access to computers.

Hackers were able to exploit the way computers connect to secure sites. Internet browsers exchange “keys” with sites so that they can be identified. But those keys must be encrypted, or hackers can crack them and intercept communications.

More than one-third of secure websites were vulnerable to the attack according to tests. There is no way of knowing how much it has been exploited.

Companies running secure and sensitive websites have mostly corrected the problems, according to researchers, though the NSA’s website remains insecure… see more

source: independent UK

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