For several years, many of us have depended upon HTTPS encryption to keep our online activities safe and secure from hackers and spies. The “S” in HTTPS claims that the connection to the web site is Secure. In other words, the connection is supposed to be safe due to the fact that it is encrypted.
NOTE: For an explanation of HTTPS encryption, look at Wikipedia’s explanation at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTTPS.
Researchers at Kaspersky have now uncovered a new malware threat in Windows systems that “compromises encrypted web communications in an impressive way.”
The threat exists only in systems that run the Windows operating system. The problem does not exist in Macintosh, Chromebook, Linux, Android, or Apple iOS (iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch) operating systems. You can read more in an article by Davey Winder in the Forbes web site at: https://tinyurl.com/privacy191004a.
Luckily, there is an easy work-around to the problem while waiting for Microsoft to fix the problem: install a good quality VPN in your Windows system to furtherer encrypt the online connection. By “a good quality VPN,” I mean a VPN that doesn’t spy on you, add additional advertising to your online communications, or track you in any way. That means that most of the free VPN products should be avoided, with 2 or 3 possible exceptions.
You can read more in an article by Brendan Hesse in the LifeHacker web site at: http://bit.ly/2J0ElaS as well as in some of my earlier articles about VPNs by starting at: https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Aprivacyblog.com+%22free+vpn%22&t=brave&ia=web.
- Attackers Exploit 0-day Vulnerability that gives Full Control of Android Phones
- U.S. Attorney General William Barr Presses Facebook on Encryption, Setting Up Clash Over Privacy
Categories: Online Privacy & Security, VPN (Virtual Private Networking)
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