Category Archives: Stuff
Some of you may have heard stories in the news lately about the HeartBleed “Virus” attacking some very high-profile websites. It was definitely a big deal and it was a very surprising issue for the tech world because it went after a specific, very widely used method of securing websites that had, up until this point, been viewed as very secure.
Most security authorities have advised that people change passwords on their more sensitive logins, which we would recommend as well. A note to WordPress users, although WordPress doesn’t typically use the style of security (called “SSL”) that was affected by HeartBleed, WordPress has updated their files for further protection, so it’s a good idea to update to the most recent version of WordPress as well.
Please continue to be careful about where you login to your site and as always protect your passwords!
More information about the Heartbleed Bug »
As if we needed another reason not to use Internet Explorer, there is currently a security vulnerability in all versions of Internet Explorer (or “IE”) targeting financial institutions and defense companies/contractors. Computer users still using Windows XP are particularly vulnerable. It’s believed these attacks are an information gathering effort. Microsoft will most likely be providing a program update to fix the problem soon. But in the mean time, we would suggest you use an alternative web browser such as Firefox or Google Chrome.
For those of you who aren’t computer savvy, if you have Windows this program is probably what you think of as “The Internet.” It’s a big lowercase E with a gold circle around it.
As a helpful guideline, the University of Florida Information Security Office has issued the following recommendation: Avoid financial and defense (military) related Web sites until Microsoft releases a patch – only go to these types of Web sites if it is absolutely necessary and do not use Internet Explorer until a patch is released. And users are advised to avoid using Internet Explorer when possible until a patch is made available. Users should consider using an alternate web browser such as FireFox, Safari, or Chrome when use of Internet Explorer is not required.
A link to a CNN story about the IE threat »
Visit these pages to download the alternative web browsers:
This is a great blog post written by Angel Pachkowski of Photography 35 (one of our clients), with some things to keep in mind when posting photos online. http://www.photography35.com/facebook-creates-insta-problem/
Here’s more great advice from our Hosting Partner, Hostdime. This time, you’ll find helpful hints for speeding up your WiFi at home or possibly even in your office.
Check out this post by our hosting company about public wi-fi and security for your Macs:
They’ve been a long time in the making, but we’ve just launched two websites in the past three days! A new website for a dental prosthetic manufacturing group. And a new and improved version of the Warring Homes website!
This is a great article about the newest version of the Google Algorithm (the formula they use to rank websites in search results). It’s probably a little heavy on the techie-speak for most, but it elaborates on some of the reasoning behind our approach to Search Engine Optimization. If you build things the right way, people will find you. Artificial means to building search engine placement will typically hurt you in the long run. http://marketingland.com/penguin-google-doesnt-owe-you-a-living-10968
This sentiment is way too deep for a fortune cookie!
