We have heard about the Heartbleed bug in recent times, as well as denials by at least one entity (the NSA, no less) concerning knowledge about the existence of such a vulnerability without informing the masses. Well, it seems that there has been a Heartbleed attack that has resulted in a loss of taxpayer data from Canada’s tax agency website. Apparently, a 19-year old Canadian man is the culprit who has been charged by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police .
According to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Stephen Arthuro Solis-Reyes was picked up from his residence on Tuesday, where has been charged with unauthorized use of a computer as well as mischief in relation to data. After performing a search on his residence, the police seized some of his computer equipment – presumably for evidence purposes. A spokesman for the Western University did share that Solis-Reyes is a computer science student there. I guess there is a line between using and abusing one’s brilliance in any chosen field, no?
The Canada Revenue Agency did shut down their publicly accessible website last Friday after learning about the Heartbleed computer bug, and on Monday, they disclosed that up to 900 social insurance numbers were compromised. How has Heartbleed affected your day to day life?
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