Heartbleed, a bug in OpenSSL, was an extraordinary bug in both its technological and societal impact because it put an incredibly large number of people at risk and spurred a unique approach to cyber-security. It was the first of its kind to receive its own brand and logo, but that was not the only reason it was such a big deal.
OpenSSL is a widely deployed open-source technology that is used on endpoints, mobile devices and servers. The promise of OpenSSL is that it provides the Secure Sockets Layer/Transport Layer Security (SSL/TLS) cryptographic libraries necessary to secure data transport. The danger of Heartbleed is that the SSL/TLS could be decrypted, leaving users at risk.
The impact of this bug was so great, it led the Linux Foundation to create the Core Infrastructure Initiative, which is backed by many notable companies including Adobe, Rackspace, Microsoft, Intel, IBM, Google, Amazon, and more. This initiative is working to fund and improve core elements that many companies and individuals rely on in order to avoid problems like this in the future. Ultimately, the biggest impact Heartbleed had was demonstrating how important it is to maintain contstant vigilance when it comes to security, and to always deeply scrutinize core security elements.
