Although no vulnerabilities have been detected, Cal State Long Beach students are being urged to change their passwords in order to avoid having their personal information stolen via the “Heartbleed” bug.
“Heartbleed,” also known as an Internet bug, is a weakness found in OpenSSL software, a technology that keeps personal data protected, according to heartbleed.com. If exploited, the bug can allow hackers to steal personal information and data, monitor communications and impersonate different Internet users.
Janet Foster, associate vice president for information technology services, sent an email to students Thursday asking them to change their passwords.
“We wanted to let you know that CSULB has taken action to scan for and address this vulnerability on our campus servers,” Foster said in the email. “ Please remember to use good practices in selecting a strong password — that it is sufficiently long, and complex, and includes a combination of numerals and characters.”