The Information Technology Office (IT Office) has been working to address security vulnerabilities related to the recent Heartbleed security issue. From the website:
The Heartbleed Bug is a serious vulnerability in the popular OpenSSL cryptographic software library. This weakness allows stealing the information protected, under normal conditions, by the SSL/TLS encryption used to secure the Internet. SSL/TLS provides communication security and privacy over the Internet for applications such as web, email, instant messaging (IM) and some virtual private networks (VPNs).
The Heartbleed bug allows anyone on the Internet to read the memory of the systems protected by the vulnerable versions of the OpenSSL software. This compromises the secret keys used to identify the service providers and to encrypt the traffic, the names and passwords of the users and the actual content. This allows attackers to eavesdrop on communications, steal data directly from the services and users and to impersonate services and users.
The IT Office has created a Heartbleed resource page to address frequently asked questions. This page also discusses the Conference’s response to this major security vulnerability.
This security issue affected the main Conference website server and the Google Apps system. All systems have been patched and this issue has been resolved. All user accounts on the Conference and District websites, the NC Advocate website and the Ramus website hosting system have been expired. When you next log into the system you will be prompted to reset your password automatically.
Google does not make a specific recommendation on the need to reset your email account password. Given the severity of this issue we recommend that you do reset the password. You can find information on how to do that here: https://support.google.com/mail/answer/6567?hl=en.
If you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact the IT Office.