Michael DeMarco

The Heartbleed bug, one of the nastiest deficiencies in Internet security to date, was found last week. More than two-thirds of the Internet's secure information could have been leaked from websites utilizing the OpenSSL cryptographic library's encryption style. Most major websites have already issued a patch to resolve the problem, but that doesn't change the fact that this information has been available to anyone looking for it for over two years. Worse still is that you would have no idea how to tell whether your data has been compromised.

Multitasking is something that everyone prides themselves on, but cognitive psychologist Art Markman seems to think otherwise. He says, "you are your own worst judge of how good a multitasker you are," due to the same areas of the brain that monitor performance are the same areas that work with multitasking, making it nigh impossible to determine how well you are actually multitasking. Of course, multitasking is something that every good employee should learn how to do, as it can improve productivity significantly.

The world is changing as technology grows ever more mobile. Cell phones have gone from bulky, large pieces of hardware to smaller, more compact specimens. Fifteen years ago, if you were to tell someone that your cell phone could connect to the Internet, you would quickly be dismissed. If you look past the surface laden with Candy Crush Saga and Words with Friends game requests, you can get to the heart of what smartphones have revolutionized – the way we communicate with others.

The same day that Microsoft ceased supporting Windows XP with security patches was also the day a vicious little monster was discovered – the Heartbleed bug, which renders privacy in the OpenSSL cryptographic library completely obsolete. Basically, anything utilizing the OpenSSL open source library is at risk here. Websites utilizing this form of encryption include Yahoo! Google, and Facebook. To put it in perspective, sites that utilize OpenSSL number more than two-thirds of the entire worldwide web. Though this bug only applies to versions 1.0.1 and 1.0.2 beta of OpenSSL, hackers are able to obtain private keys which can be used to obtain sensitive information from countless people all around the world. Nothing says "heartbreak" like having your identity stolen and your sensitive data Shanghaied.

The Internet has grown to such a vast size that it in itself is like a world within a world. Some people live on it, and share their secrets far too openly. These people think themselves safe in a world that technically doesn't exist, but there is a lot more danger involved with the Internet than some people realize. There are criminals everywhere, and they are just waiting for you to drop your guard long enough to swipe everything you've worked so hard to protect.