NSA denies keeping Heartbleed bug data 'secret' for two years

The National Security Agency (NSA) has denied accusations of having information about the Heartbleed bug for atleast two years and then keeping the data 'secret'.

Heartbleed is a software bug, which allows the attacker to access memory of the host computer, and retrieve potentially privacy-sensitive data

According to Cnet, NSA was accused of being 'able to obtain passwords and other basic data that are the building blocks of the sophisticated hacking operations at the core of its mission, but at a cost'.

The NSA was also accused exploiting the bug to gather intelligence for their own benefit, which undermined the safety of the Internet for everyone.

After dodging questions on the issue several times, NSA denied the accusations and insisted that the agency was not aware of the so-called Heartbleed vulnerability, until it was made public in a private-sector cybersecurity report.