The OpenSSL Project has boosted its funding by fivefold following a donation by Nokia Solutions and Networks to help stop the recurrence of bugs such as Heartbleed.
OpenSSL is cryptographic sofware used by around two thirds of websites to secure data. The Heartbleed bug, which was discovered at the beginning of April, allowed hackers to steal information from such sites.
NSN said it was in the final stages of rolling out required updates for the “small” number of products which are vulnerable to the bug. The company is also setting up a centralised team to build security into all of its development and execution processes, as well as into its mobile broadband portfolio.
The vendor’s new mobile broadband security centre in Berlin will begin work by the end of this year. NSN said as part of its plans to bolster its security portfolio, it has become a platinum sponsor of the OpenSSL Project. The donation will be made over a two-year period and the vendor will also lend the support of its security centre facilities.
Hossein Moiin, Executive Vice President of Technology & Innovation, said: “We see protecting mobile broadband networks as a top priority and believe that best-in-class security can be achieved by combining the forces of market-leading experts.”
The OpenSSL Software Foundation’s Steve Marquess added: “The OpenSSL Project welcomes NSN’s support in helping prevent issues like ‘Heartbleed’ from recurring. This is by far our largest donation to date, highlighting NSN’s position as an industry leader in safeguarding security.”
Last week, HTC said it was working on new security updates for four of its devices after it was discovered the smartphones were at risk from the Heartbleed flaw.