A critical error has been discovered in the internet’s addressing system, forcing the businesses and service providers to step up their internet security, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Computer hackers could exploit the flaw to gain access to confidential data such as credit card and bank information by rerouting internet traffic. The flaw is considered to be more serious than virus attacks, which generally affect individual computers and programs. Unlike viruses, the flaw weakens the internal machinery of the internet, especially its domain name system (DNS), which works like an address book to connect computers and websites.

The computer security response team (CERT), a division of homeland security, stated that the error required the largest synchronised security upgrade in the history of the internet. Many software and hardware companies, including Microsoft, Cisco Systems and Sun Microsystems, have simultaneously issued software patches for their clients.

Dan Kaminsky, a security researcher, discovered the error by accident nearly six months back. Although he informed the US government, the matter was kept under wraps to provide time for the vendors to come up with viable options, a division of the department of homeland security said. X