The security flaw that’s freaked out the Internet

Detected in an extensively used utility called Log4j, the flaw lets Internet-based attackers easily seize control of everything from industrial control systems to web servers and consumer electronics. Cybersecurity experts say users of the online game ‘Minecraft’ have already exploited it to breach other users by pasting a short message into in a chat box. — AP

BOSTON: Security pros say it’s one of the worst computer vulnerabilities they’ve ever seen. They say state-backed Chinese and Iranian hackers and rogue cryptocurrency miners have already seized on it.

The US Department of Homeland Security is sounding a dire alarm, ordering federal agencies to urgently eliminate the bug because it’s so easily exploitable – and telling those with public-facing networks to put up firewalls if they can’t be sure. The affected software is small and often undocumented.