Blog

Heartbleed: Quick Turnaround in Open Source Reporting

Posted: 24th April 2014
By: CAROLINE FLANNERY
Heartbleed: Quick Turnaround in Open Source Reporting

By now you’ve certainly heard of Heartbleed. This security flaw allows hackers to steal protected information without leaving a trace, which means just about everyone is vulnerable to a cyber attack.

Between the Heartbleed Bug and the recent expiration of Windows XP support, security teams have had their hands full the past few weeks. It’s clear information security is an ongoing process with no end in sight.

The Pulse of the Internet

Although Heartbleed began as a simple code mistake that occurred two years ago, its consequences have prompted an overwhelming amount of discussion across the web. The daily reporting consists mostly of how various products, organizations, and services are being impacted while the rest is overflowing with password-reset advice.

Using Recorded Future, we’re able to quickly see which open sources were first to report Heartbleed when it was exposed on April 7, 2014.

heartbleed-reporting-april-7-treemap.png Click image for larger view

Of course, it didn’t take long for niche sites, blogs, and mainstream agencies to break the news. Look at how different the reporting landscape was the day after Heartbleed was announced.

heartbleed-reporting-april-8-treemap.png Click image for larger view

Why Does it Matter?

It’s important for security professionals to understand which sources tend to report major vulnerabilities first so they can pay extra attention to them going forward. The quicker you can patch the bug, the better chance you have at protecting your infrastructure.

Additional Heartbleed Bug Analysis

Maintaining situational awareness while driving emergency patching is a tall order. With the help of Recorded Future, our customers were able to understand the impact of Heartbleed in just a few mouse clicks.

The team at Recorded Future recently published a case study that further explores how our web intelligence platform can be used to overcome analysis challenges related to the Heartbleed Bug. Make sure you grab your free copy on the next page.

Related