Apple and Microsoft have released patches to fix the FREAK security vulnerability found last week in Mac OS X, iOS and Windows operating systems.
FREAK — short for Factoring attack on RSA-EXPORT Keys — allows hackers to decrypt HTTPS-protected Web traffic between browsers and millions of websites, so they can intercept data like login details and credit card numbers.
Microsoft published a number of critical security bulletins yesterday addressing vulnerabilities in both consumer and server editions of Windows, Internet Explorer, Office, SharePoint Server and Exchange Server.
These updates also introduce a patch against Stuxnet, a worm, discovered on Windows PCs in 2010, that was allegedly created by US intelligence to target Iranian nuclear facilities.
Meanwhile, Ars Technica reports that Apple has released a security package that includes fixes for the SSL vulnerability in Safari in OS X Mountain Lion, Mavericks and Yosemite.
In addition, its recent iOS update to version 8.2 included a FREAK fix for the company’s mobile devices.
