CYBERSECURITY experts issued a warning about a software flaw called Log4j as tech giants are racing to prevent potential risks for internet users.
Companies including Apple, IBM, Oracle, Cisco, Google, Amazon all utilize the vulnerable software, affecting “hundreds of millions of devices” around the world.
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Researchers are alerting that Minecraft, one of the most popular video games worldwide and Cloudflare, Apple’s cloud computing platform are two of the many services that use Log4j.
According to cybersecurity officials, Log4j is used to record user activity and review the behavior of applications.
It has been downloaded millions of times and is one of the most popular tools to collect data from various networks.
Additionally, the flaw is so dangerous because it’s difficult to discover if your system has been compromised or not.
In a statement on Saturday, Jen Easterly, head of the Department of Homeland Security and Agency (CISA) said the vulnerability was “one of the most serious flaws” she has ever seen” as the number of hackers are “growing.”
On Tuesday, the non-profit developers of Log4j named Apache Software Foundation released a strategy to protect company security.
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When prompted, internet users must update all of their devices in a timely manner, especially with the holidays right around the corner.
Companies have been warned to be on high alert over the holiday season for cyberattacks and other security flaws.
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“What I’m most concerned about is the school districts, the hospitals, the places where there’s a single IT person who does security who doesn’t have time or the security budget or tooling,” said Katie Nickels, Director of Intelligence at cybersecurity firm Red Canary.
“Those are the organizations I’m most worried about — small organizations with small security budgets.”
‘APOCALYPSE’
The US is risking an “apocalypse” with millions lined up for basic needs if there is a cyberattack on the power grid, experts have warned.
Experts have been worried for years that the national power grid is vulnerable to cyberattacks from outside countries should they wish to target the US.
A study being carried out by researchers at Hudson Institute’s Quantum Alliance Initiative is looking into how destructive a hypothetical quantum cyberattack on the US power grid would be, and preliminary results are bleak, to say the least.
The early results suggest that the protection of the country’s power grids should be an urgent priority, much more so than it already is.
