Security experts recently discovered a new software vulnerability that could affect millions of devices and servers across the globe. It’s called Shellshock, and experts are still trying to determine just how big of a threat it is. The consensus, however, is that it poses even more risk than the Heartbleed bug discovered earlier this year.

The following is a guest post by John Grady, senior manager of product marketing at XO Communications:

With company data breaches on the rise, consumers are becoming increasingly wary of sharing personal information with the brands they love. And with good reason. According to a recent survey, 43 percent of U.S. companies, including both Target and Home Depot, have experienced a breach this year. Even the companies that haven't experienced a data breach are feeling the effects of the growing distrust — especially in the travel industry.

Treading on the heels of the Home Depot's announcement that 56 million credit and debit cards were jeopardized last week, new research shows that 43 percent of U.S. companies experienced a data breach in the past year. That’s a 10 percent increase from the previous year.