Flash Poll: Broken Heartbeat

If your website hasn’t been broken by the now infamous Heartbleed bug (and it probably hasn’t) that doesn’t mean you’re out of danger either as a member of an enterprise security team or as an end-user banking, shopping, or just plain surfing online.

Considered one of the biggest Internet security events ever (security guru Bruce Schneier ranks it 11 on a scale of 1-10),  the flaw has been quietly existing out in the wild for two years. Now, after the widespread publicity this week, experts predict it will become an even more popular attack vector, exposing millions of passwords and personal information, including credit-card numbers, email accounts, and a wide range of online commerce.

The implications for organizations are serious -- and ongoing. As Bishop Fox security analyst Tim Sapio observes in Heartbleed: Examining The Impact, "One thing is certain: If you do not take measures now against this bug, you will be hacked sooner rather than later. The attack is simply too easy to perform."

In his blog, Sapio offers prescriptive advice and resources about how to patch the flawed "Heartbeat" function of TLS, or filter out Heartbeat requests before they reach vulnerable devices. But as you consider and deploy options, we hope you will share your plans and concerns with other members of the Dark Reading community by participating in our flash poll: Broken Heartbeat.

Here’s our question: What steps do you plan to take in response to the Heartbleed bug? You can check all of the responses that apply, and, if we’ve missed a tactic you’re considering, you can tell us in the comments. We also hope you’ll use this poll as a forum to discuss ongoing issues as implications of the bug become clearer over time. For now, your responses to the poll include:

Click here to take the poll, then let’s chat about it in the comments.