Web Hosting Box

Security is perhaps one of the most important aspects of a web hosting plan, especially for webmasters that conduct a significant volume of e-commerce on a daily basis. A single security lapse could lead to widespread data loss, site downtime, slow loading pages, and a reduction in daily traffic levels. However, one security issue that is often overlooked and underestimated is spam, which is defined as any excessive and/or forceful communication with or use of a Web server or online system. Although web hosting providers offer integrated modules that are specifically designed to help webmasters maximize spam prevention, there are certain measures that website owners can take to completely eliminate site spam.

Why Should Spam Be Prevented?

Spam is a threat not only to the security but also to the productivity of every online business. Most websites become successful because of their continually updated content, which is of a high quality that visitors gain interest in. However, if your site becomes heavily populated with unmoderated spam comments and low-quality content, it is possible to experience a significant reduction in daily traffic levels and search engine rankings. In fact, it is even possible to be completely de-indexed from some search engines because of a large volume of spam on your site. Spam can also be seen in the form of automated e-mails that are submitted through contact forms on your website. E-mail spam can cause webmasters to waste a lot of time in cleaning up their inbox, reducing productivity and ultimately lowering the value and responsiveness of their customer service.

What Is a Captcha Script?

A captcha script is basically a script that is installed on your website which displays a unique image containing a random combination of characters (including letters, numbers, and sometimes symbols), which visitors must input into a form box to verify that they are not automated robots. Since captcha scripts actually create unique images spontaneously, bots are not able to read or decode them as they would be able to do with regular text. As computer programs are not able to actually view and interpret images, it is extremely unlikely that a bot will be created in the future that can decipher captcha images. Thus, captcha scripts are an effective long-term way to prevent automated spam and ensure that all of your site commenters and anyone sending you an e-mail is actually a human being.

How to Use Captcha Scripts

To use a captcha script you simply need to paste the code snippet into the coding of any form or input field. This will cause the script to randomly generate a captcha image any time the form is loaded on a webpage, making it so no information can be successfully entered into the form without the visitor first solving the associated captcha. Captcha codes can be generated in various programming languages, including PHP, ASP, and NET, making it a flexible and highly compatible spam prevention tool that can be utilized on any web site.

The February 2011 “Email Security Report” was recently released by German email security firm eleven. The report highlights a temporary decline in spam toward the end of 2010 accompanied by the rise of virus outbreaks and botnet infrastructures. In the history of spamming, since 2003, there has never been such an extreme fluctuation in spam volumes as witnessed in December 2010 and January 2011.

On December 25^th, 2010, spam volumes were reported to decrease by 80 percent, remaining at that level until January 10^th, 2011. On this date, spam volume significantly rose six-fold reaching the levels prior to December 25^th. Simultaneously, the quantity of virus outbreaks rapidly increased indicating some type of collaboration.

The company states in the report these two events (spam and virus outbreaks) are related and the decrease is likely to be planned by the spamming community. Spammers took the time between these two dates to rebuild botnet infrastructures while replacing lost capacities. This defends these individuals from external factors. In turn, this task was accomplished by sending massive quantities of new virus, trying to infect as many computers and servers as possible.

Prior to the Christmas holiday, spamit.com was terminated while many botnets were eradicated. This is said to be a contributing factor to the major dip in spam. Other trends were reported including:

• The US is the leading source with 11 percent of the world’s spam
• Brazil produces 8 percent
• India and Russia share 7 percent
• Germany outputs 4 percent

In addition to the drastic increase of spamming and virus outbreaks following this break in nefarious activity, the report also stated that malware levels increased by 21.5 percent in the month of January. Therefore, these three malicious activities are unlikely to be coincidental. It is more logical that this was a planned event intended to rebuild and then release a significant amount of malevolent activity on the world.

This report is a vital aspect of the internet community. These statistics prove that there are many individuals or groups collaborating to wreak havoc on internet users. It seems with the shutdown of major components that are the source of spamming, viruses and malware, the attacks increase greatly as a result. It is unlikely spam, viruses and malware will ever completely be eradicated as there is always an expert out there looking to cause problems across the globe.

Web host security issues should be an integral part of the daily routine and maintenance of your website.   Although e-commerce owners go to great lengths to ensure the protection of valuable data submitted through online transactions, many other website gurus often become complacent when it comes to security issues.  Hackers, on the other hand, remain vigilant for breaches in cyber security premises.

Stealing Identities

Web host hackers are the annoying thorns in the side of millions of website owners on a habitual basis.  For some it’s as irritating as removing spam flooding online forums with tantalizing offers (always too good to be true), while for others it’s as devastating as losing billions in revenue when once loyal customers bail after learning their credit card account information has been shared, and soon after, identities stolen.   Unfortunately, the latter is a more common nightmare than many are willing to admit.  Furthermore, many mailing lists and other subscription services neglect to inform subscribers personal information will either be shared or sold to other companies to expand existing databases.

Weak Passwords in Vulnerable Locations

In order to establish a formidable and reliable online presence, you must protect your endeavor, and respectfully, your customers or visitors.  Creating a strong password is the strongest line of defense when protecting your web host account from hackers.  Opting to use a password generator is often helpful when setting up an account, providing a random string of characters to serve as a unique password.  If you own several web host accounts, it can never be stressed enough to avoid the temptation to use the same login information for the same account just because it may be easier to remember.

Always keep your login information in a safe location and never feel obligated to share.  Such information is usually stored in an encrypted file on a hard drive, however, for optimal protection, password protect the file with yet another generated password.   Although some industry professionals disagree, others recommend keeping the login information in two separate locations in case of an emergency.

Other Cyber Calamities

In addition to the havoc hackers wreck by stealing credit card information and identities, once gained entry into your web host account, the high-tech criminals can effortlessly transfer ownership of your domain(s), modify the existing appearance of your website, embezzle your website’s advertising credits and hijack e-mail lists.

Perhaps a little known fact:  technology advances based on Moore’s law which theorizes each year society’s technological capabilities double.  As a website owner, this means every year you must double security measures to prevent would-be hackers from destroying within seconds an endeavor that took years to build.  With this in mind, although you may have an existing solid password, it should be changed each year to prevent hackers advancing with the times from stealing login credentials.

Albeit, protecting your web host account is easier said than done, however, it’s not an impossible feat.  By applying advanced security measures, along with some common sense, ensures your website is better protected from potential cyber criminals!

While every website owner strives to develop an aesthetic and appealing site or blog, unfortunately not everyone succeeds.  With the ease and convenience that content management systems such as WordPress brings to design, the need for experience in web design is no longer a requirement to build a functioning site or blog.

Novice bloggers using WordPress typically fall into one of the following design traps: abhorrent themes, obsessive advertisements, runaway spam, ancient postings and left-field posts.  While each of these impending design casualties can easily be prevented, understanding good design is the first step in avoiding a design faux pas when using WordPress.

Abhorrent Themes

Abhorrent may be a strong word to describe unattractive WordPress blogs, but the truth is there are some sites that are simply hideous to behold.  Unless you have a poor eye for design, there’s really no excuse for committing this faux pas with the thousands available free WordPress themes. Consider referring to color theme charts or visiting top rated blogs to hone in on your design instincts.

Obsessive Advertisements

Granted advertisements on a blog are a necessity to generate revenue, however, only in moderation.  Visitors quickly become annoyed battling with distracting ads while trying to read the content of the blog.  Nothing says “I am unprofessional” like a site overflowing with advertisements.  Also, too many ads cut into the potential revenue. As a general rule, place 1-3 ads per page on your site for a good balance.  Rotate the placement of the ads for optimal revenue.

Runaway Spam

WordPress blogs offer visitors the quick and easy ability to post comments.  Although the convenient posting feature is overall a good feature, however, it turns into a spam fest when spanners and bots wreck havoc on your blog.  A downside to using a WordPress blog is that they usually don’t require visitors to register before posting, which in turn invites spam.  Again, keep in mind that nothing screams unprofessional than a blog full of spam postings.

Ancient Postings

With the demand for fresh and current information, it’s imperative that your blog offer readers what they want; especially to accommodate RSS feed subscribers.  This means you must be consistent in posting daily or weekly updates to your blog.  If you lack the ability to keep your site updated, then don’t be surprised if you see a significant decrease in your subscriber list.  To keep on track, consider a posting schedule whether it’s once a day or once a month.

Left-Field Posts

Even though tangents are often common in the blogosphere, be conscious in knowing the difference between a tangent and a completely irrelevant post.  Stick with writing about well-versed and informative topics.

When developing your blog, keep in mind these tips on how to prevent it from becoming a statistic of poor design!

There are many advantages that make the POP3 email platform attractive to email clients. This is the most common and popular email platform but is becoming outdated. Therefore, an update needs to be released in order to keep pace with ever-increasing technology.

Along with the many great features we have seen over the years from the POP3 email platform, there are a few noteworthy disadvantages including,

• Opening attachments
• JavaScript issues
• Corrupt email folders
• Disappearing of privacy
• Potential for infection
• Consumption of resources
• Downloading large files

While opening attachments within an email client that utilizes this platform is a quick and simplified process, the efficiency slows down greatly when the attached file contains a virus payload. Another disadvantage is the potential for JavaScript issues. If enabled in your email reader, you could be the target of a nuisance JavaScript file embedded in your email. This can cause computer issues and create a security hole.

Additionally, email folders can sometimes become corrupt and lost along with all the emails in that folder. Recovery can be an arduous task and may not always be an option. Furthermore, since POP3 uses your local hard drive to store messages, your privacy disappears when someone sits down at your computer. Even if the email reader contains a password, an individual that knows what they are doing can find other ways to access these folders and read your emails.

Also, your locally stored email files are subject to viruses that may be embedded in your machine by other means. Using an effective virus scanner will help with this issue but is only effective on 60 percent of emails being sent to other recipients. Additionally, after a while, these emails will collect (if not properly maintained) and begin to eat up valuable system resources like storage space.

Finally, the POP3 email system is set to download attachments one at a time. Therefore, messages sent with large files can take a great deal of time to download resulting in an unmanageable, counterproductive system. Utilizing mobile devices and dialup connections can cause even greater frustration and difficulty.

Despite the many advantages developed over the years, the disadvantages seem to have gone overlooked. Therefore, POP3 needs a vast update or overhaul in order to keep up with the demands of modern technology. There are other platforms in the works that will fix the shortcomings of the POP3 email platform.