Warning: Heartbleed bug is back and it's in reverse

More 'Heartbleed' is on the way for users of Android 4.1.1, IT experts warn, as latest variant of computer virus uses servers to attack users

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The Android 4.1.1 system is susceptible to the "Reverse Heartbleed" virus.

Published: 4:15am, 21 Apr 2014Updated: 6:06am, 21 Apr 2014

Users of Android phones running a particular version of the Jelly Bean operating system should take extra care with free Wi-Fi hotspots and unfamiliar websites as they are vulnerable to a new variant of the "Heartbleed" bug, IT experts warn.

The Android 4.1.1 system is susceptible to the "Reverse Heartbleed" virus - a variation of the bug that has alarmed authorities worldwide and last week helped hackers to steal social insurance numbers from the Canada Revenue Agency.

With the original Heartbleed, hackers use a flaw in the encryption tool Open SSL to attack computer servers and gain access to users' communication records, login usernames and passwords.

"As for Reverse Heartbleed, it is not a hacker who attacks a server, but a server that attacks users," said Hong Kong Computer Emergency Response Team's senior consultant Leung Siu-cheong.

Users of Android 4.1.1 who connected to a bad server, website or android application were putting themselves at risk of being hacked, he said.

"A bad server could be disguised as a free Wi-fi hotspot," he added.

Gabriel Leung Shing-koon, general manager of EMC Hong Kong and Macau, said users could get around the Reverse Heartbleed bug by upgrading their operating system.