Governments and companies worldwide have been scrambling to shore up their cyber defences in the past 48 hours after the discovery of a fundamental flaw – dubbed Shellshock – in software used in everything from the servers that form the backbone of the internet to iPhones.
The vulnerability is being described as one of the most acute and pervasive online security loopholes ever identified and far more severe than the “Heartbleed” bug which panicked cyber security professionals in April after leaving thousands of businesses and millions of consumers open to attack worldwide.
Even the most sophisticated government and military systems have been rendered exploitable by Shellshock, according to security analysts. Attacks have already begun as hostile governments and criminal organisations look to exploit the flaw.