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Getting Healthy with Social Media

2 Health 4/10/2014

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Is it good to tweet what you eat?  Can you pin
 to get thin?  Will snapping an Instagram photo of your meal or taking a
 selfie help you stick to a new healthy eating routine?  You bet.<br />
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Social media has been transformative in many ways – changing the way 
we get information, connect with friends and engage with companies.  But
 it can also be a powerful tool to help you lose weight and meet your 
healthy lifestyle goals.<br />
<br />
Just ask Rebecca Regnier who used Twitter to help her lose 20 pounds. She chronicled her story in <i><a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FYour-Twitter-Diet-Rebecca-Regnier-ebook%2Fdp%2FB006M8OVE0">The Twitter Diet</a></i>, and blogs about how you can use social media to aid weight loss at <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoesthisblogmakeuslookfat.com%2F">Does This Blog Make <span id="goog_361829325"></span><span id="goog_361829326"></span>Us Look Fat?</a> Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill started tweeting her diet and exercise routines and eventually lost 50 pounds.<br />
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It makes sense.  Studies show that social support is a huge factor – 
so why not turn to your online friends to help motivate and keep you on 
track. There’s also something about publicly declaring your intentions 
to make you more accountable. You’ll practice what you preach when you 
preach it online, says Regnier.<br />
<br />
There’s power in groups — and that came to life in an experiment conducted by the folks at <i>Cooking Light</i> magazine who created the <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cookinglight.com%2Feating-smart%2Fsocial-diet-00412000086362%2F">Social Diet</a>.
 The staffers lost 128 pounds using food and fitness apps like 
MyFitnessPal, LoseIt!, and FitBit that hooked them into a network for 
some friendly competition and encouragement. The lonely work of weight 
loss became an animated, purposeful social project, said editor Scott 
Mowbray, who lost 20 pounds on the Social Diet.<br />
<br />
Pinterest may be known for showcasing double-stuffed cookies, cake 
pops, red velvet desserts and other indulgent creations, but registered 
dietitian and uber Pinterest user Mitzi Dulan (with over 3 million 
followers) says this popular social media platform can be an effective 
source of inspiration and support for losing weight. In <i><a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2FThe-Pinterest-Diet-Your-Thin%2Fdp%2F0989723941">The Pinterest Diet</a></i>, Dulan maps out a plan for pinning healthy recipes, exercises, inspirational quotes and products to help with weight loss.<br />
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If you’re spending a lot of time online, why not use those hours to 
support your healthy habits.  Here’s how you can maximize social media 
to help meet your goals:<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Follow healthy food blogs.</b> If you only browse blogs
 full of food porn (you know, deep-fried, bacon-wrapped this and sugary,
 ooey-gooey that), then you need a new source of cooking inspiration. As
 an anecdote to existing online galleries that tend to showcase major 
calorie bombs, a fellow dietitian, Regan Jones, and I created an online 
food photo gallery called <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhealthyaperture.com%2F">Healthy Aperture</a> that features some of the best healthy food bloggers on the web. Some of my other favorite healthy food blogs include <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.kalynskitchen.com%2F">Kalyn’s Kitchen</a>, <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fiowagirleats.com%2F">Iowa Girl Eats</a>, <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cookincanuck.com%2F">Cookin’ Canuck</a>, <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.mynewroots.org%2Fsite%2F">My New Roots</a>, and <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.fannetasticfood.com%2F">Fannetastic Food</a>. You can search for healthy food bloggers on <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nutritionblognetwork.com%2F">Nutrition Blog Network</a>, which features more than 600 blogs written by registered dietitians. </li>
<li><b>Get inspired by fitness bloggers. </b>Look to blogs that are part of a network called <a href="http://www.webmd.com/click?url=http%3A%2F%2Ffitfluential.com%2F">FitFluential</a>,
 to help motivate you to run your first 5K, start a new exercise class 
or find a workout routine that you can do at home. Many of these fitness
 bloggers are documenting their own journey – sharing their struggles 
and successes.  These blogs might provide just the kind of kick-start 
and inspiration that you need. However, be careful — don’t jump on the 
bandwagon of a restrictive juice cleanse or buy a bunch of supplements 
just because it worked for someone else. And before starting any new 
type of exercise, be sure to consult with your doctor.</li>
<li><b>Track what you eat. </b>Undoubtedly, keeping a food 
diary works. Any type of self-monitoring makes you more aware of your 
choices and can serve as a deterrent for overindulging. Instead of 
writing down what you eat and drink, now there are lots of different 
free apps you can download on your smartphone that will calculate the 
calories for you. Even taking a photo of your food can serve as a 
virtual food diary – helping you be more aware of portion sizes.</li>
<li><b>Post your progress. </b>If you’ve established specific 
goals – whether that’s measured in pounds, steps or miles – you may find
 it helpful to share your achievements on Facebook. Getting praise 
through “likes” may help keep you motivated. When you see your friends 
share similar stories or post a photo of their healthy meals – you’ll be
 more likely to do the same. Studies tell us this is true – your social 
network has a strong influence on your health behaviors.  Positive 
changes can be contagious.</li>
<li><b>Make new connections. </b>Follow people, media outlets,
 companies and groups on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn that 
will continuously provide helpful nutrition and fitness articles, 
weight-loss tips, inspirational stories, and healthy recipes. Fill your 
newsfeed with content that will educate, empower and inspire you to make
 healthy changes and stay on track. Participate in Twitter chats to ask 
questions of experts, and join online communities with discussion boards
 to interact with other people who are on a similar healthy lifestyle 
journey.</li>
</ul>
While there’s still a lot of misinformation about diet and health 
online – and the recipes that seem to go viral are often over-the-top 
indulgent — social media holds incredible potential to help you meet 
your health goals.</div>

Getting Healthy with Social Media

Is it good to tweet what you eat? Can you pin to get thin? Will snapping an Instagram photo of your meal or taking a selfie help you...

BP Guidelines May Take Millions of People Off Meds

0 Health 4/10/2014

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About 5.8 million American adults may no longer be prescribed drugs to treat high blood pressure under recently revised guidelines, according to a new study.
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In February, the Eighth Joint National Committee 
released controversial guidelines that relaxed blood pressure goals in 
adults 60 and older from 140/90 to 150/90. The guidelines also eased 
blood pressure targets for adults with diabetes and kidney disease.</div>
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In this study, researchers used blood pressure data 
collected from more than 16,000 Americans between 2005 and 2010 to 
assess the impact of the revised guidelines.</div>
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The proportion of adults considered eligible for 
medication to treat high blood pressure would fall from about 41 percent
 to 32 percent, the authors concluded in the study published online 
March 29 in the <i>Journal of the American Medical Association</i> and presented Saturday at the American College of Cardiology annual meeting in Washington, D.C.</div>
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The researchers also said that 13.5 million adults 
-- most of them older than 60 -- who were considered to have poorly 
controlled blood pressure would now be viewed as having adequately 
managed blood pressure. That includes 5.8 million adults who would no 
longer require blood pressure pills.</div>
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"The new guidelines do not address whether these 
adults should still be considered as having hypertension. But they would
 no longer need medication to lower their blood pressure," study lead 
author Ann Marie Navar-Boggan, a cardiology fellow at Duke University 
School of Medicine, said in a Duke news release.</div>
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One in four adults older than 60 currently receives treatment for high blood pressure, according to the researchers.</div>
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"These adults would be eligible for less intensive 
blood pressure medication under the new guidelines, particularly if they
 were experiencing side effects," Navar-Boggan said. "But many experts 
fear that increasing blood pressure levels in these adults could be 
harmful."</div>
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Even under the new guidelines, about 28 million U.S.
 adults still have uncontrolled high blood pressure and more than half 
of them don't receive treatment, said Navar-Boggan, who noted that 
uncontrolled high blood pressure is a risk factor for heart attack and stroke.</div>
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BP Guidelines May Take Millions of People Off Meds

About 5.8 million American adults may no longer be prescribed drugs to treat high blood pressure under recently revised guidelines, acco...

Bhaktapur braces up for Bisket Jatra festival

0 National 4/10/2014

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BHAKTAPUR, APR 10 - 
  Bisket Jatra
 , the famous cultural and historical festival of Bhaktapur, commenced 
from Thursday, plunging this ancient town into a festive mood. However, a
 general sense of security fear is palpable with the festive air in the 
town.<br />

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The festival that starts few days before the commencement of the Nepali
 New Year is celebrated with gusto for eight nights and nine days.<br />

<br />

On the first day of the festival, a wooden chariot built in the 
traditional Pagoda style and with the idols of the chief deity of the 
Bhairavnath and the Betal deity ensconced inside is towed from the local
 Panchtaley Temple and taken around the Thaney (upper) and Kwaney 
(lower) streets.<br />

<br />

The pulling of the chariot evokes security fears as the locals of the 
upper and the lower streets jostle to try and pull the chariot towards 
their area which sometimes results in a melee and violence.<br />

<br />

People get killed in clashes or run over by the huge wheels of the 
chariot almost every year in course of this festival, which naturally 
raises concerns.<br />

<br />

In view of this, the Bhaktapur District Administration has beefed up 
the security and deployed 800 Nepal Police personnel and 500 Armed 
Police Force personnel. The administration has also banned the sale of 
home-brewed alcohol.<br />

<br />

Meanwhile, a huge peace rally was organised in Bhaktapur today before 
the commencement of the festival under the leadership of the Bhaktapur 
District Administration Office, calling for making the  Bisket Jatra  peaceful. <br />

<br />

The peace rally started from the Panchtaley (five-storied) temple and 
went around different parts of the town. Employees of government 
offices, police, political parties, civil society, the representatives 
of local clubs, media persons and various organisations participated in 
the rally.<br />

</div>

Bhaktapur braces up for Bisket Jatra festival

BHAKTAPUR, APR 10 - Bisket Jatra , the famous cultural and historical festival of Bhaktapur, commenced from Thursday, plunging this...

'Heartbleed' Online Bug: How to Protect Yourself

0 Technology 4/10/2014

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An online bug called "Heartbleed" is affecting a huge chunk of the Internet, which means that a password change is likely in order for hundreds of millions of people. </div>
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More than half a million sites are vulnerable that use the security system called Open SSL, according Netcraft, and have had to install a new security patch. Before this patch, private data on websites such as Yahoo, Google and Tumblr could have been vulnerable to hackers, experts said. This bug was discovered by a team of security engineers at tech company Codenomicon and Neel Mehta of Google Security. </div>
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Joost Bijl, a product manager with the cybersecurity firm Fox IT, said that affected websites should be letting consumers know that a fix has been installed. But, so far it does not appear that any major website besides Tumblr have reached out to consumers. </div>
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Here's what you should know about "Heartbleed" and some ways to protect yourself:</div>
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<a href="http://staff.tumblr.com/post/82113034874/urgent-security-update" target="external">Tumblr issued a warning on Tuesday</a>, saying the blog site has "no evidence of any breach and, like most networks, our team took immediate action to fix the issue," but users should change all their passwords</div>
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Codenomicon set up a <a href="http://heartbleed.com/" target="external">Heartbleed info website</a>, saying, "Considering the long exposure, ease of exploitation and attacks leaving no trace this exposure should be taken seriously." </div>
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Codenomicon CEO David Chartier said that users on impacted websites should change their passwords, but only once the site administrators have appropriately installed the patch to fix the problem. It doesn’t help to change the password if the site has not been updated, though Chartier estimated that the fix is probably already in place on most of the major websites. The problem has been around for two years and was discovered last Friday, he said. </div>
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Chartier also said their investigation shows that Open SSL is used by at least 66 percent of all servers on the Internet.</div>
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<tr><td class="title"><strong><br />3. Facebook</strong></td></tr>
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A Facebook spokesperson said the company "added protections for Facebook’s implementation of OpenSSL before this issue was publicly disclosed, and we’re continuing to monitor the situation closely." </div>
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"We haven’t detected any signs of suspicious account activity that would suggest a specific action, but we encourage people to take this opportunity to follow good practices and set up a unique password for your Facebook account that you don’t use on other sites," the Facebook spokesperson said.</div>
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A Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement, “The security of our users' information is a top priority. We proactively look for vulnerabilities and encourage others to report them precisely so that we are able to fix them before they are exploited. We have assessed the SSL vulnerability and applied patches to key Google services.” </div>
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They later added to their statement saying that, "The security of our users' information is a top priority. We fixed this bug early and Google users do not need to change their passwords." </div>
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<a href="http://googleonlinesecurity.blogspot.com/2014/04/google-services-updated-to-address.html" title="">Google also posted a blog</a> today detailing the fix for the big and pointing out that Android users are not vulnerable.</div>
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In a statement, Yahoo said, “A vulnerability, called Heartbleed, was recently identified impacting many platforms that use Open SSL, including ours." </div>
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The company said it has "successfully made the appropriate corrections across the main Yahoo properties (Yahoo Homepage, Yahoo Search, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Food, Yahoo Tech, Flickr and Tumblr) and we are working to implement the fix across the rest of our sites right now. We’re focused on providing the most secure experience possible for our users worldwide and are continuously working to protect our users’ data.”</div>
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Mark McCurley, senior information security advisor at Identity Theft 911, said <a href="https://lastpass.com/heartbleed/" target="external" title="">Lastpass.com/heartbleed</a> can help you check to see if a site is vulnerable. You can also ask the company or website if they have fixed potential flaws, then update to a strong password, using numbers, upper case, lower case and symbols, McCurley said. </div>
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People should also be wary of phishing emails that trick you into revealing your passwords to scammers.</div>
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<a href="http://krebsonsecurity.com/" target="external">Security expert Brian Krebs</a>, who broke the news of Target's massive security breach last year, said hundreds of millions of users are impacted by this problem. He offered three main takeaways: </div>
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• This highlights the danger of using the same password over and over again for all your sites. </div>
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• Using same username and same password on multiple sites that hold valuable information is a bad idea. </div>
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• For banking and email you should have different usernames and passwords.</div>
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Krebs advised people on Tuesday to avoid logging into sites that have critical personal information. It's never a bad idea to change passwords for important services and sites, he said. </div>
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<em>ABC News' Sandy Cannold and Susanna Kim contributed to this report.</em></div>
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'Heartbleed' Online Bug: How to Protect Yourself

An online bug called "Heartbleed" is affecting a huge chunk of the Internet, which means that a password change is likely i...

The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now

0 Technology 4/10/2014

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's time to update your passwords to various sites affected by the Heartbleed bug.</td></tr>
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An encryption flaw called the Heartbleed bug is already being called one of the biggest security threats the Internet has ever seen. The bug has affected many popular websites and services — ones you might use every day, like Gmail and Facebook — and could have quietly exposed your sensitive account information (such as passwords and credit card numbers) over the past two years.<br />
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But it hasn't always been clear which sites have been affected. <em>Mashable</em> reached out to various companies included on a <a href="https://github.com/musalbas/heartbleed-masstest/blob/master/top10000.txt" target="_blank">long list of websites</a> that could potentially have the flaw. Below, we've rounded up the responses from some of the most popular social, email, banking and commerce sites on the web.<br />
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Some Internet companies that were vulnerable to the bug have already updated their servers with a security patch to fix the issue. This means you'll need to go in and change your passwords immediately for these sites. Even that is no guarantee that your information wasn't already compromised, but there's no indication that hackers knew about the exploit before this week.<br />
<br />
Although changing your password regularly is always good practice, if a site or service hasn't yet patched the problem, your information will still be vulnerable.<br />
<br />
We'll keep updating the list as new information comes in.<br />
<br />
<h2 style="margin-top: 22px;">
Social Networks</h2>
<table class="comparison-chart"><thead>
<tr><th width="80"></th><th width="70">Was it affected?</th><th width="70">Is there a patch?</th><th width="70">Do you need to change your password?</th><th>What did they say?</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Facebook</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We added protections for Facebook’s implementation of OpenSSL before this issue was publicly disclosed. We haven’t detected any signs of suspicious account activity, but we encourage people to ... set up a unique password."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>LinkedIn</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We didn't use the offending implementation of OpenSSL in www.linkedin.com or www.slideshare.net. As a result, HeartBleed does not present a risk to these web properties."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Tumblr</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We have no evidence of any breach and, like most networks, our team took immediate action to fix the issue."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Twitter</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Twitter has not yet responded to a request for comment.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="margin-top: 22px;">
Other Companies</h2>
<table class="comparison-chart"><thead>
<tr><th width="80"></th><th width="70">Was it affected?</th><th width="70">Is there a patch?</th><th width="70">Do you need to change your password?</th><th>What did they say?</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Apple</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Apple has not yet responded to a request for comment.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Amazon</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"Amazon.com is not affected."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Google</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes*</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">“We have assessed the SSL vulnerability and applied patches to key Google services.” Search, Gmail, YouTube, Wallet, Play, Apps and App Engine were affected; Google Chrome and Chrome OS were not.<br /><br />*Google <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/heartbleed-online-bug/story?id=23256168" target="_blank">said</a> users do not need to change their passwords, but because of the previous vulnerability, better safe than sorry.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Microsoft</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Microsoft services were not running OpenSSL, according to LastPass.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Yahoo</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began working to fix it... and we are working to implement the fix across the rest of our sites right now."  Yahoo Homepage, Yahoo Search, Yahoo Mail, Yahoo Finance, Yahoo Sports, Yahoo Food, Yahoo Tech, Flickr and Tumblr were patched. More patches to come, Yahoo says.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="margin-top: 22px;">
Email</h2>
<table class="comparison-chart"><thead>
<tr><th width="80"></th><th width="70">Was it affected?</th><th width="70">Is there a patch?</th><th width="70">Do you need to change your password?</th><th>What did they say?</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>AOL</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">AOL told <em>Mashable</em> it was not running the vulnerable version of the software.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Gmail</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes*</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">“We have assessed the SSL vulnerability and applied patches to key Google services.”<br /><br />*Google <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Business/heartbleed-online-bug/story?id=23256168" target="_blank">said</a> users do not need to change their passwords, but because of the previous vulnerability, better safe than sorry.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Hotmail / Outlook</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Microsoft services were not running OpenSSL, according to LastPass.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Yahoo Mail</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"As soon as we became aware of the issue, we began working to fix it... and we are working to implement the fix across the rest of our sites right now."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="margin-top: 22px;">
Stores and Commerce</h2>
<table class="comparison-chart"><thead>
<tr><th width="80"></th><th width="70">Was it affected?</th><th width="70">Is there a patch?</th><th width="70">Do you need to change your password?</th><th>What did they say?</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Amazon</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"Amazon.com is not affected."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Amazon Web Services</strong> (for website operators)</td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Most services were unaffected or Amazon was already able to apply mitigations (<a href="https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/aws-services-updated-to-address-openssl-vulnerability/" target="_blank">see advisory note here</a>). Elastic Load Balancing, Amazon EC2, Amazon Linux AMI, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, AWS OpsWorks, AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon CloudFront were patched.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Target</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"[We] launched a comprehensive review of all external facing aspects of Target.com... and do not currently believe that any external-facing aspects of our sites are impacted by the OpenSSL vulnerability."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>eBay</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"The vast majority of our services were not impacted and our users can continue to shop securely on our marketplace."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>PayPal</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"Your PayPal account details were not exposed in the past and remain secure." <a href="https://www.paypal-community.com/t5/PayPal-Forward/OpenSSL-Heartbleed-Bug-PayPal-Account-Holders-are-Secure/ba-p/797568" target="_blank">Full Statement</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="margin-top: 22px;">
Banks and Brokerages</h2>
<table class="comparison-chart"><thead>
<tr><th width="80"></th><th width="70">Was it affected?</th><th width="70">Is there a patch?</th><th width="70">Do you need to change your password?</th><th>What did they say?</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Bank of America</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We're currently taking precautions and steps to protect customer data from this threat and have no reason to believe any customer data has been compromised in the past."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Chase</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"These sites don’t use the encryption software that is vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>E*Trade</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">E*Trade is still investigating.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Fidelity</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We have multiple layers of security in place to protect our customer sites and services."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>PNC</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We have tested our online and mobile banking systems and confirmed that they are not vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Schwab</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"Efforts to date have not detected this vulnerability on Schwab.com or any of our online channels."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Scottrade</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"Scottrade does not use the affected version of OpenSSL on any of our client-facing platforms."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>TD Ameritrade</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">TD Ameritrade "doesn't use the versions of openSSL that were vulnerable."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>TD Bank</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We're currently taking precautions and steps to protect customer data from this threat and have no reason to believe any customer data has been compromised in the past."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>U.S. Bank</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We do not use OpenSSL for customer-facing, Internet banking channels, so U.S. Bank customer data is NOT at risk."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Wells Fargo</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">No reason provided.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="margin-top: 22px;">
Government and Taxes</h2>
<table class="comparison-chart"><thead>
<tr><th width="80"></th><th width="70">Was it affected?</th><th width="70">Is there a patch?</th><th width="70">Do you need to change your password?</th><th>What did they say?</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>1040.com</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We're not vulnerable to the Heartbleed bug, as we do not use OpenSSL."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>FileYour Taxes.com</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We continuously patch our servers to keep them updated. However, the version we use was not affected by the issue, so no action was taken."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>H&R Block</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>No</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We are reviewing our systems and currently have found no risk to client data from this issue."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Healthcare .gov</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Healthcare.gov has not yet responded to a request for comment.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Intuit (TurboTax)</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Turbotax "has examined its systems and has secured TurboTax to protect against the “Heartbleed” bug." <a href="http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20140409006442/en#.U0Wqdd89hBu" target="_blank">Full Statement</a></td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>IRS</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"The IRS continues to accept tax returns as normal ... and systems continue operating and are not affected by this bug. We are not aware of any security vulnerabilities related to this situation."</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h2 style="margin-top: 22px;">
Other</h2>
<table class="comparison-chart"><thead>
<tr><th width="80"></th><th width="70">Was it affected?</th><th width="70">Is there a patch?</th><th width="70">Do you need to change your password?</th><th>What did they say?</th></tr>
</thead><tbody>
<tr><td><strong>Dropbox</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">On <a href="https://twitter.com/dropbox_support/status/453673783480832000" target="_blank">Twitter</a>: "We’ve patched all of our user-facing services & will continue to work to make sure your stuff is always safe."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Evernote</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Evernote has not yet responded to a request for comment.</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>LastPass</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"Though LastPass employs OpenSSL, we have multiple layers of encryption to protect our users and never have access to those encryption keys."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Netflix</strong></td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td>Unclear</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"Like many companies, we took immediate action to assess the vulnerability and address it. We are not aware of any customer impact."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>OKCupid</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We, like most of the Internet, were stunned that such a serious bug has existed for so long and was so widespread."</td></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size: 85%;"><strong>SoundCloud</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"We will be signing out everyone from their SoundCloud accounts ... and when you sign back in, the fixes we’ve already put in place will take effect."</td></tr>
<tr><td><strong>Spark Networks (JDate, Christian Mingle)</strong></td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td>No</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">Sites do not use OpenSSL.</td></tr>
<tr></tr>
<tr><td style="font-size: 90%;"><strong>Wunderlist</strong></td><td>Yes</td><td>Yes</td><td><span class="yes" style="float: left; margin-top: -4px; padding-right: 5px;">Yes</span> Yes</td><td style="font-size: 90%;">"You’ll have to simply log back into Wunderlist. We also strongly recommend that you reset your password for Wunderlist." <a href="https://www.wunderlist.com/blog/how-we-fixed-the-heartbleed-bug" target="_blank">Full Statement</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>Reporters who contributed to this story include Samantha Murphy Kelly, Lorenzo Francheschi-Bicchierai, Seth Fiegerman and Adario Strange.</em></div>

The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now

It's time to update your passwords to various sites affected by the Heartbleed bug. An encryption flaw called the Heartbleed bug is...

Microsoft ends Windows XP support

0 Software, Technology 4/09/2014

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<br />
<span class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Microsoft Corp</span>
 released its final security updates for Windows XP and Office 2003 on 
Tuesday as security experts warned users that they could soon be prime 
targets for cyber attacks if they do not abandon the products.<br />
<br />

<span id="midArticle_0"></span>Security experts advise consumers and businesses to either replace <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">computers</span> running Windows XP or upgrade to modern versions of Microsoft's <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">software</span> within the next month because they will no longer be protected from newly discovered threats after the middle of May.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_1"></span><span class="mandelbrot_refrag">Microsoft</span>
 automatically rolls out new security updates on the second Tuesday of 
each month, which is known as "Patch Tuesday," a day when they also 
publish technical details on the security bugs they are fixing. The next
 Patch Tuesday is May 13.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_2"></span>Security experts say they believe hackers will study that data and "reverse engineer" the May Patch Tuesday <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">software</span> updates to identify ways to attack <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">computers</span> running Windows XP, along with Office 2003, which will no longer receive patches from <span class="mandelbrot_refrag">Microsoft</span>.<br />
<br />
<span id="midArticle_3"></span>"Attackers
 will use this as an accelerator. It's an easier way to get at 
machines," said Wolfgang Kandek, chief technology officer with 
cybersecurity firm Qualys Inc.<br />
<span id="midArticle_4"></span><br />
Microsoft
 wants users to move to more modern versions of the operating system 
partly because it has incorporated new security features into the 
software over the past decade that make it far more effective in 
thwarting cyber attacks.<br />
<span id="midArticle_5"></span><br />
The
 world's largest software maker first warned that it was planning to end
 support for Windows XP in 2007, but security firms estimate that 15 to 
25 percent of the world's PCs still run on the version of the operating 
system that was released in October 2001.<br />
<span id="midArticle_6"></span><br />
Only
 about a third of the world's 2.2 million ATMs which use the system have
 been upgraded to newer operating systems, according to NCR, one of the 
biggest ATM makers.<br />
</div>