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A security bug in the widely-used software used to secure the internet has been discovered by three Google researchers.

The flaw, dubbed 'Poodle', could allow hackers to gain access to information that should be encrypted in plain text allowing them to takeover accounts for email, banking and other services.

Makers of web browsers and server software yesterday asked users to disable use of the source of the bug: an 18-year old encryption protocol known as SSL 3.0.

A security bug in the widely-used software used to secure the web has been discovered by three Google researchers. The flaw, dubbed 'Poodle', could be allow hackers to gain access to information that is meant to be encrypted in plain text allowing them to takeover accounts for email, banking and other services

The discovery of 'Poodle' - which stands for Padding Oracle On Downloaded Legacy Encryption - is the third time this year that researchers have uncovered a vulnerability in popular web technology.

It follows the discovery of April's 'Heartbleed' bug in OpenSSL and last month's 'Shellshock' bug in a piece of Unix software known as Bash.

Security experts said that hackers could steal browser 'cookies' in Poodle attacks, potentially taking control of email, banking and social networking accounts.

Even so, experts said the threat was not as serious as the two prior bugs, and that so far, no one has made use of the vulnerability to hack an account. 

Security experts said that hackers could steal browser'cookies' in 'Poodle' attacks, potentially taking control of email, banking and social networking accounts

'If Shellshock and Heartbleed were Threat Level 10, then Poodle is more like a 5 or a 6,' said Tal Klein, vice president with cloud security firm Adallom.

The threat was disclosed in a research paper published on the website of the OpenSSL Project, which develops the most widely used type of SSL encryption software.

Rumours of a bug in SSL software had been circulating in recent days, prompting some security professionals to prepare for a major new threat this week.

Ivan Ristic, director of application security research with Qualys, said 'Poodle' was not as serious as the previous threats because the attack was 'quite complicated,' requiring hackers to have privileged access to networks.

Jeff Moss, a cyber adviser to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, added attackers would need to launch a 'man-in-the-middle' attack.

This would involve placing themselves between victims and websites using approaches such as creating rogue WiFi 'hotspots' in Internet cafes.

Google suggested a technical workaround to secure web servers, but added on its blog that it hopes to eventually remove support for SSL 3.0 from all client software.

Mozilla plans to disable SSL 3.0 by default in the next version of its Firefox browser, to be released on November 25. 

SSL 3.0, in which the software is found, is currently used by Internet Explorer (IE) 6 (right).  'If Shellshock and Heartbleed (left) were Threat Level 10, thenPoodle is more like a 5 or a 6,' said Tal Klein, vice president with cloud security firm Adallom

'SSL version 3.0 is no longer secure,' Mozilla said on its blog. 'Browsers and websites need to turn off SSLv3 and use more modern security protocols as soon as possible.'

Microsoft Corp issued an advisory suggesting that customers disable SSL 3.0 on Windows for servers and PCs.

Representatives with Apple could not be reached and an Oracle spokeswoman had no immediate comment.

Matthew Green, an assistant research professor of computer science at Johns Hopkins University said that disabling SSL 3.0 can be difficult for some computer users.

'It's not going to take out the infrastructure of the internet. But it's going to be a hassle to fix,' Professor Green said.