Stopping Your Website Getting Hacked and Damaging Your SEO

<br /> <p>Google and other search engines have stepped up aggressively in identifying sites containing malware, link farms, and other content designed to either spread spam, spy on users or cause damage to a visitor's computer.</p><p>Given the significant rise in the number of bots and viruses that infect PCs coming from legitimate websites, if your website falls prey to one of these attacks, it can cause you to be removed from search engine results for a very long time. This is in addition to the reputational risk of having your site become a victim of malware - which is especially painful if you manage credit card or ecommerce transactions, and are expected by users to be completely secure.</p><p>Unfortunately, securing a website isn't easy since a site is online constantly and there are some?truly inventive ways?to hack into it. Since there are a wide variety of web platforms out there, it's hard to provide specifics that apply to everyone, but here are some ways to improve your odds of beating the hackers:</p><p><strong>Use secure passwords</strong>: most security starts with a strong password. A strong password buys you time against brute force attacks (for example, it takes under 2 seconds to brute force the password "giants" but over 200 years for "RanK$nG#On3!-2010"). If your site has other administrative users, enforce minimum password requirements to ensure there are no weak links. Don't write passwords down, don't share them, and change them frequently.<br /> <strong>Don't use obvious usernames</strong>: "admin" and "root" are the most common administrative users - choosing a different name makes it harder to identify an admin account.<br /> <strong>Keep your CMS up to date</strong>: if you use WordPress, Drupal or Joomla! - or any other content management system - keep abreast of the latest security patches and apply them quickly.<br /> <strong>Use security plug-ins</strong>: again, for CMS users, there are some truly excellent plug-ins that can make your platform much more secure. Check what's available for your software and install recommended plug-ins.<br /> <strong>Back up your site regularly</strong>: it's remarkable how many web sites have no back up whatsoever, even ones with significant investment. Ultimately, if your site is compromised, your back up will be the first thing you need to restore your data.</p><p>If you have any form of user-generated content on your site - such as blog comments, forums or user reviews - it's important to monitor activity to protect against comment spam, malicious links and anything else intended to lead the visitor from a legitimate page to somewhere questionable.</p><p>Be vigilant in deleting this content, and use technology such as Akismet or? reCAPTCHA ?to deter bots and spammers. Some sites also restrict IP addresses by country, since certain destinations are notorious for stealing site content and causing other issues. If your company has no business opportunities in a particular country, it may help to block requests from IP addresses originating from there. Additionally, adding your site to? Google Webmaster Tools?only takes moments to set up but Google will then routinely monitor your site for evidence of malware.</p><p>Hacked sites are becoming a major problem, and can derail your progress in developing your online presence and search engine optimization. There are many technical elements to managing a website but even taking these basic precautions gives you a significantly better chance of avoiding becoming a target.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

Stopping Your Website Getting Hacked and Damaging Your SEO

Google and other search engines have stepped up aggressively in identifying sites containing malware, link farms, and other content desig...

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How Can Hosting Accounts Be Easily Hacked?

<br /> <p>Hacking of web sites and severs are on rise recently. Hacking is done by some individuals using different methods to achieve their goal. As you know hacking means an unauthorized entry or penetration into another network or computer to gain complete control of its functions. Most of the people using emails now these days are experiencing different kind of hacker attacks either through email or through unauthorized software installation or by plug in equipments. The worst part of it is that nobody will come to know that a program is doing a spying on your activity or somebody else controlling your network.</p><p>Most hackers taking advantage of your lack of knowledge about how the latest technology works and what are the latest techniques. For many people, once software is installed, they never bothered about its maintenance such as upgrading the software to have the latest features and omission of errors which occurred in the previous version of the software. Previous versions of software might have come with security lapses and the programmers taking care of it in a later stage and which is available as upgrade patches.</p><p>Hacking through email is not new. Hundreds of fraud mails are received in the spam folders every day and many of them with attachments. If you opened an attached file, it will automatically install a software in your computer mail box and from there to the mail server. It will spread rapidly across all the mail accounts and their computers. Hence its always important to first ensure that the website links you are clicking in your email inbox are secured and are not from websites which look fishy.</p><p>External hard disks, pen drives, floppy disks, games, attractive backgrounds are all will be coming with some kind of scripts which automatically installed in to your systems. Never upload a file to your server's ftp accounts from a unknown source or external media which is not scanned for virus, malware or spywares.</p><p>Use of weak passwords to remember them easily will be resulting in hacking of the system. A password which is difficult to find out contains upper and lower case characters, numbers and signs will be good. Make use of different online tools to generate a secured password which cannot be easily hacked.</p><p>Secured network is the need of the hour and regular maintenance and checks should be dome frequently to get rid of hackers, especially when your clients are engaged in ecommerce.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

How Can Hosting Accounts Be Easily Hacked?

Hacking of web sites and severs are on rise recently. Hacking is done by some individuals using different methods to achieve their goal. ...

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How to Prevent Hosting Account From Being Hacked

<br /> <p>Since the introduction of web, it was always vulnerable to attacks such as hacking and virus attacks. A hacking means an unauthorized entry or penetration into a network or system to have complete control of the administrative functions (edit, delete or install). Hackers use software bugs to give him a super-user control power. They hackers are gaining access to the system by stealing the identity. Many often, hackers use emails to get access. They attach executable files with attractive themes and while you open it automatically installs a program in your system and that program working itself without your support. The worst part of it is that the running of program in the background will not be known to anybody.</p><p>How can you save yourself from the hackers? Keeping you updated about the latest technology, trends and attacks will be the first step. Updating your software and scripts will be the next step. You should update your software with the latest program patches introduced by the developer so that any vulnerability discovered by them might have rectified. While you are updating the software in your system, it automatically overwrite any hidden bug in it and will enhance its operational ability.</p><p>Also, use of external plug in such as a pen drive or scripts, codes and installation of any file into your system offered by somebody. While you install any of these from any source, before installing, should be ensured that it is not harmful to your system. Always use a secured antivirus, antimalware & antispyware software on your computer to ensure maximum safety, because if infected files are uploaded to the ftp server then there are chances that more files could get corrupted and even visitors who access your web pages can also get effected.</p><p>Passwords which are strong - means it contains case sensitive and alpha numeric characters - are used for hosting accounts cPanel and FTP functions. A dictionary based common word is vulnerable to be exposed. Also keep them changed frequently. Names of people, place and date of birth etc. are stolen very easily. Check for Trojan or virus and effective cleaning frequently should keep them away.</p><p>A back up of your system will make sure that even though you are a victim of attacks, your data not lost and it can be replaced. A reliable web host will make your life more easier. Check out different online backup options which are hosted on the cloud and are most secure.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />

How to Prevent Hosting Account From Being Hacked

Since the introduction of web, it was always vulnerable to attacks such as hacking and virus attacks. A hacking means an unauthorized ent...

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AirPlay video streaming from iOS devices hacked into Macs (video)

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxSJbkPchXVc3sitF4uBX73yo4RARzX8JBkTNXqCmIzfbjCBDxSjBHj57reXCHm1YWYmLnaL3lxqpXeWzptqoPUQusivThXpevyanvL3GHPnDC8XZrFlR6oAWtw_yW2gY3IGiu2R_GBI/s1600/airplay-hacked-onto-mac-os-x.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXxSJbkPchXVc3sitF4uBX73yo4RARzX8JBkTNXqCmIzfbjCBDxSjBHj57reXCHm1YWYmLnaL3lxqpXeWzptqoPUQusivThXpevyanvL3GHPnDC8XZrFlR6oAWtw_yW2gY3IGiu2R_GBI/s320/airplay-hacked-onto-mac-os-x.jpg" width="320"></a></div><br> Hey Mac home theater users, listen up -- your AirPlay wishes have come true. TUAW's very own Erica Sadun has developed a free (ad supported) 0.01 AirPlayer alpha hack that lets your Mac play host to AirPlay video streamed off of iOS devices. Right, just like an Apple TV and without requiring a Jailbreak.<br> <br>

AirPlay video streaming from iOS devices hacked into Macs (video)

Hey Mac home theater users, listen up -- your AirPlay wishes have come true. TUAW's very own Erica Sadun has developed a free (ad suppo...

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Stop Your Password and Your Computer From Getting Hacked

<br /> <p>The issue of computer security and safety is more of an issue today than at any other time in the history of computing. Before the arrival of the Internet somebody would usually need to be physically beside your computer before they could try and hack a password. A global network of computers has now given these guys the ability to try and back you from anywhere on the planet.</p><p>How can they do this? Well first off if you're surfing online without firewall, anti-virus and spyware protection you're leaving yourself wide open to a potential attack. Your computer connects to the Internet through what are called data ports. If the wrong ports are left open (meaning you're not using a firewall) then a hacker can compromise your computer in a few minutes of online time.</p><p>Why do they want your passwords? Information folks - it's worth more than gold to these guys. If they can get your login or e-mail password then the world becomes their oyster. And you're going to pay a high cost for this mistake.</p><p>So what can you do to stop your passwords being hacked?</p><p>1. Don't Use Dumb Passwords<br /><br>The amount of people who have their password set to "password" or "admin" or "administrator" is pretty shocking. A dictionary hack will get through these in a few seconds. If your computer, laptop, netbook, smartphone, router etc came with a default password then change it immediately. Don't use your social security number or anytime else obvious either</p><p>2. Keep It Random<br /><br>Don't use the same password for any more than 6 months. The longer you keep using the same password the more likely it is somebody is either going to guess it or have better luck hacking it.</p><p>3. Mix It Up<br /><br>Any password you use should be alphanumeric - it should be a mixture of numbers and letters. An example of this would be your initials and your date of birth. This isn't a bad start but it could be guessed. A better way of creating a secure password is to use a mixture of numbers, letters and characters. So let's say your name is Greg Stephenson and you wanted a new password - here's an example!st3ph3ns0ng? It might be hard to make out but it reads as StephensonG with the letter e replaced with 3 and the letter o replaced with zeros. This is the type of password that's going to give most hackers a headache.</p><p>You don't need to invest a small fortune or get a degree in computer forensics to keep your password safe - it's just a matter of taking a very small amount of time and effort and putting it to good use.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Are you worried that your computer might be at risk? Your <a href="http://www.cpusecurity.com/" target="_new">computer security</a> is something you should take very seriously - it only takes one mistake to cause you major problems. If you want more info and help with your computer security problems then <a href="http://www.cpusecurity.com/" target="_new">click here</A>.</p> <br />

Stop Your Password and Your Computer From Getting Hacked

The issue of computer security and safety is more of an issue today than at any other time in the history of computing. Before the arriva...

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What Will You Do When Your Website Is Hacked? Use These 7 Steps to Manage the Hack

<br /> <p>I guess it happens to everyone sometime. I just wasn't ready for it.</p><p>Some sleaze ball operating from a European IP address (which means he could be anywhere) managed to get my account information for my primary domain in one of my three accounts.</p><p>Then he (or she...or it) sent out more than a million spam e-mails using my <strong>primary</strong> domain. That will get any respectable server blacklisted in a heartbeat.</p><p>To my host's credit, they shut me down before most of those could be delivered. (Imagine how many bounced e-mails I would have received. Or spam complaints - even worse!)</p><p>But also, imagine my panic when I logged in this morning and saw error pages that said my account had been suspended...</p><p>Here's what happened and how it was worked out so quickly...and why.</p><p>My host sent me an e-mail immediately telling me of the suspension, but unfortunately I didn't have my alternative e-mail (like a yahoo or gmail e-mail) input in my profile, so it went to the suspended e-mail account and I didn't get it.</p><p><strong>Lesson 1:</strong> Make sure your host has a way to reach you when everything fails.</p><p>When I called customer support, a junior technician was very nice, but only confirmed that I was suspended. When I got my security issues fixed, he said, I should give them call back. Instead of going ballistic, I suggested maybe I should talk to a supervisor.</p><p><strong>Lesson 2:</strong> Be nice.</p><p><strong>Nick </strong>got on the phone. He was the supervisor who suspended the account. He told me exactly <strong>why,</strong> <strong>what</strong> needed to be done on my end, and <strong>how </strong>I could protect myself from further damage. Those were three factors I needed to understand.</p><p><strong>Lesson 3:</strong> Talk to the expert.</p><p>I took notes, including Nick's full name. Then I did what he said.</p><p><br />Run anti-virus full scans on all my computers. <strong>Check...</strong><br />Run anti-spyware on all my computers. <strong>Check...</strong><br />Check my files and folders for my websites for any strange files that shouldn't be there. <strong>Check...</strong><br />Check with all my outsource partners to make sure they don't have access to my cPanel, but use FTP accounts instead. <strong>Check...</strong><br /><br><strong>Lesson 4:</strong> Do what I was told and keep notes of the results. (No spyware or viruses by the way.)</p><p>Then I called Mark Hendricks [http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/newiss] - a trusted mentor who has gone through this stuff before. I wanted to confirm that I was doing all I could do and to be aware of anything I should get the hosting company to do. As I suspected, he suggested changing all my passwords just to be sure that whoever hacked me couldn't get into my vital info.</p><p>And one other thing: Make sure they de-listed the IP address that had become blacklisted and reinstated the account on a clean IP.</p><p>Did that...</p><p><strong>Lesson 5:</strong> Always get a second opinion.</p><p>I changed the e-mail passwords on all my accounts, removed unused FTP accounts and changed passwords everywhere else.</p><p><strong>Lesson 6:</strong> Change passwords frequently.</p><p>Then I called back Lunarpages.com [http://www.the60dayexperiment.com/go/host.htm] and got the account reinstated. The junior tech hesitated and suggested waiting until tomorrow when he could get the supervisor's approval. I said I had talked to Nick and read the steps he suggested, including calling back to get it reinstated when all were completed.</p><p>It was reinstated within minutes.</p><p><strong>Lesson 7:</strong> Take notes, be clear, stay calm, be persistence until you get results.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>You know much more than you think. Turn Your Knowledge into CASH! with <b>The 60-Day Experiment:</b> <a href="http://www.60DaysTo100K.com/eza.htm" target="_new">http://www.60DaysTo100K.com/eza.htm</a></p> <br />

What Will You Do When Your Website Is Hacked? Use These 7 Steps to Manage the Hack

I guess it happens to everyone sometime. I just wasn't ready for it. Some sleaze ball operating from a European IP address (which mea...

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Real Life Experience - Server Hacked!

<br /> <p>Firewalls are the your first line of security defence against viruses, hackers, and trojans. It is extremely important to ensure is configured properly in order for this security tool to be effective. I would like to share with you my hands-on Real-life firewall experience:</p><p>As an IT Security Engineer, I received a high priority call from a large corporate company and the last message was Server was hacked ! When I got there, I found out that one of the main server has a user and directory created that no one in the company can identify.</p><p>There was a high-end firewall installed but guess what, the was only 1 rule set. Allow All (meaning as good as no firewall). Period. Naturally, we (security company) came in and did a technical security assessment (audit). Further, recommended and implemented the appropriate server hardening, firewall reconfiguration, IPS (Intrusion Prevention System), Anti-Virus, user security training and this company had became one of the long lasting major customer.</p><p>So the lesson learned is to install a firewall and get the rules working for you. It will do you good.</p><p>The firewall acts as the first line of defence against any Internet attacks. A typical firewall interfacing with 3 types of network. e.g. Internet (External), Internal Network and DMZ (Dimilitarized Zone).</p><p>Some of the features of a firewall which should be configured includes the following:</p><p>Able to be configured to be invisible to external parties. Do not allow "pings".</p><p>Administrator password must be at least 8 alphanumeric characters and held tightly by the person that you trust.</p><p>Tight Packet filter rules ( A must) They act by inspecting the "network packets" traveling between the firewall. It is sort of like a postoffice between the Internet and your office servers/PC. If a packet matches the packet filter's rules that state it is fine to pass through, the packet filter will pass the network packets to your Internal PC/Servers. If it does not match, the packet filter will drop the packet, or reject it (discard it, and send "error responses" to the source). Bottom line: ensure rules are configured properly.</p><p>Sync Protection : Ensure this protection is enable to protect against Sync Attack.</p><p>Typically a connection between PC and Server is establish when "3 way handshake is established". The sender PC will send a SYNC flag, then the receiving Server will send back a SYNC ACK flag. After that the sender PCwill send a SYNC ACK flag. Once these are all done, connection is established. The PC and Server can go about their business of connecting application e.g. FTP.</p><p>Now an intruder will keep on sending the server with SYNC flags. The server do not know what to do with it and will just hold them. Denial of Service attack will be established when the server cannot handle the load and deny any legitimate connections to the server.</p><p>IPS</p><p>Nowadays, a firewall is not adequate to protect the network. It should be complement with IPS which has updated signatures make access control decisions based on application content, rather than IP address or ports as traditional firewalls had done.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Gabriel Ng is a professional IT Security Consultant, IT Auditor (CISSP) and author of [http://www.comsectutorial.com] This site is setup to provide information, recommendation on hacking prevention, controls to minimise security threats from viruses, trojans, spywares, hacking based real life experience while conducting security assessment and penetration tests.</p> <br />

Real Life Experience - Server Hacked!

Firewalls are the your first line of security defence against viruses, hackers, and trojans. It is extremely important to ensure is confi...

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What to Do If Your Facebook Or Twitter Account is Hacked

<br /> <p>Unfortunately, this scenario is a reality for all of us who use social networking -- it's not a matter of IF your Twitter or Facebook account will be hacked, but simply WHEN. I've been on the receiving end of messages from my friends whose accounts have been hacked. The message typically compliments me on some body part or requests me to click on a link to view a video of myself. Also, there are usually a number of misspellings in the message.</p><p>Be very careful when you get those kinds of messages, even when they are coming from trusted friends who would normally not engage in this type of behavior. Many of the messages are linked to a virus or some type of malware that either infects your computer or will gain access to your account and send all of your friends and followers spammy messages. If you do slip and click on one of these links, pay attention to what your virus scanning software tells you, especially if you get a security warning about a site.</p><p>If your Twitter account is hacked:</p><p>1. Visit Twitter's information page for problem resolution.</p><p>2. Log out of Twitter</p><p>3. Clear your browser cache (your browsing history and cookies and private info) and close down your browser.</p><p>For Internet Explorer: Go to Tools -- Internet Options, and then click on the "Delete" button under Browsing History. Check all of the boxes (except InPrivate Filtering data) and click on the "Delete" button.</p><p>For Firefox: Go to Tools -- Clear Recent History, and then click on the down-arrow next to "Details", check all of the boxes, and select "Everything" for the time range to clear.</p><p>4. Open a new browser window, log into Twitter, and change your password. You can also use the Twitter password reset feature to set a new password before logging in again.</p><p>5. Visit your settings page and check your Connections. Revoke access for any third-party application that you don't recognize.</p><p>6. Submit a support request to let them know you have taken all of the proper steps to reset your account and to request that your direct messaging capability be restored. You can also include info on any statuses that weren't posted by you in the body of the request.</p><p>7. Update your password in all of your third party applications as well. If a third party application (like Facebook, Twitterrific, Twhirl, etc.) is trying to use your old password to access your tweets, it will lock you out of your account.</p><p>If your Facebook account is hacked:</p><p>1. Visit Facebook's information page for problem resolution.</p><p>2. If you are still able to access your login email address, then use the "Forgot your password" link to prompt an email from Facebook with a password reset code. If you can't access your account, then use the link above.</p><p>3. Clear your browser cache (your browsing history and cookies and private info) and close down your browser as described above.</p><p>4. Your account could also have been phished/hacked by a phishing web site, worm, or malicious software. To ensure that all is safe again, refer to the "Warnings" section on Facebook.</p><p>Take care when using Twitter and Facebook. Trust your intuition, and if something doesn't look or feel right, ignore it or delete it before clicking on it. You will have probably saved yourself hours or headache in trying to restore a hacked account.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Internet Marketing Automation Coach Donna Gunter helps independent service professionals create prosperous online businesses that make more profit in less time. Would you like to learn the specific Internet marketing strategies that get results? Discover how to increase your visibility and get found online by claiming your FREE gift, TurboCharge Your Online Marketing Toolkit, at ==> <a href="http://www.Turbochargeyouronlinemarketing.com" target="_new">http://www.TurbochargeYourOnlineMarketing.com</a></p> <br />

What to Do If Your Facebook Or Twitter Account is Hacked

Unfortunately, this scenario is a reality for all of us who use social networking -- it's not a matter of IF your Twitter or Facebook...

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How To Void Getting Hacked in World of Warcraft

<br /> <p><strong>How does a Battle.net account become compromised?</strong></p><p>Hackers will prey on your trust, naivety and innocence to discover your log-in credentials. Accounts become compromised when somebody discovers your log-in details (username & password) to the account.</p><p><strong>Account Sharing</strong></p><p>You share your account details with somebody you "trust". It's against Blizzard's Terms of Use to share your account details because it's so risky. Your friend could pass your log-in details to one of his friends, and so forth. Before you know it, everyone knows your account details. There is also no way of knowing if your friend has a secure computer; his computer might be infected by a Trojan/keylogger which means your account is then exposed. You might also fall out with your friend one day and he could decide to "get even" with you by stealing your gold and transferring to another realm.</p><p><strong>Power Leveling Services</strong></p><p>You buy a power level handing over your username & password to a complete stranger. Power leveling services are usually bought, with real money, through a website, which is just another scam to get your log-in details and hard earned cash. Once you hand over your payment, and divulge your log-in details, your account will be stripped of all valuables and the gold will be "laundered" through other hacked accounts (this gold is usually sold onto gold buyers). Finally, they will delete your characters, so they know when you have the account back, to do it all over again.</p><p><strong>Account Buying, Selling and Trading</strong></p><p>You buy, sell or trade your account. "I will give you mine if you give me yours", so to speak. Once you hand over your account details the account will most likely become compromised. The guy offering the trade might appear be really friendly and honest but you should not be drawn in by it. Remember, they prey on your innocence and trust. You may even buy a stolen account and it is likely the original owner will one day claim it back leaving you with nothing.</p><p><strong>Fake Websites</strong></p><p>You click a link to a fake website directing you to a website that resembles an official Blizzard/World of Warcraft site. Thinking it's real, you log into the page using your account details, which is when your username and password are emailed to a 3rd party. A typical fake website would be where you receive a whisper in-game saying you have won a free Blizzard mount but you need to visit an obscure site to get the code for it.</p><p><strong>Infected Files</strong></p><p>You download a file that contains a Trojan/keylogger. This means whenever you press a key on your keyboard, the keystrokes are automatically recorded and transmitted to a 3rd party.</p><p>"No problem. I will just retrieve my password!", I hear you say. I'm afraid it's not that simple; If you are keylogged then you should expect the scammer has the ability to also log into to your email accounts (since he knows all usernames and passwords entered since the computer became infected). All he has to do is log into the World of Warcraft Account Management page, change the registered email on the account, and finally log into your email account to verify the email change. Now your account has a new registered email which you have no access to, rendering Password Retrievel useless.</p><p><strong>Malicious Links</strong></p><p>You see a weblink, usually posted on a forum, and you click it. The link sends you to a web page which has some kind of invisible script designed to infect your computer with a keylogger. This can be a real problem on popular forums, including the official World of Warcraft forums. Fortunately, the World of Warcraft forum moderation team are quick to remove malicious links. Beware of clicking links!</p><p><strong>How Do I Secure My Battle.net Account?</strong></p><p>Follow these simple steps and you can log into your Battle.net/World of Warcraft account with confidence.</p><p><strong>Passwords - Common Sense</strong></p><p>Use a strong, unique password for your Battle.net/WoW account. Make sure the password is different to any other passwords you might be using for your Facebook, Email, MSN accounts etc. Don't use simple words like "dog" and <b>NEVER</b> use your account name as a password!</p><p>Good password: &e5PSW:QtdH%#</p><p>Bad Password: hello</p><p>If you ever forget your password or need to change it you can do so by using the Password Retrieval service on the official WoW website. A new random password will be sent to the registered email on the account.</p><p><strong>Blizzard Authenticator</strong></p><p>The Blizzard Authenticator is a great way to secure your Battle.net account. It's a little device which you attach to your account through Account Management. Once attached, whenever you log into your Battle.net/World of Warcraft account, you will be asked for your username, password and a digitally generated code which you get by pressing the little button on the Blizzard Authenticator. Without that code you cannot log into your account. The cost of the Authenticator is $6.50/?6.00 and you can buy it from the online Blizzard Store.</p><p><strong>Update:</strong></p><p>There is a free Battle.net Mobile Authenticator available for your iPhone.</p><p><strong>Anti-Virus Software</strong></p><p>You should have good anti-virus software installed on your computer. Anti-virus software protects against infected files that might contain a Trojan or keylogger. I personally use ESET NOD32 which has always done a good job but there are many good alternatives on the market. If you don't have the cash to invest in anti-virus software have a look at AVG Anti-Virus Free.</p><p>Once you have installed your new anti-virus software, and updated the virus definitions, go ahead and run a full system scan. You should also set the software to automatically run at least one full system scan per week (I prefer nightly), preferably when you know you will not be using your computer. Most anti-virus software have options to automate system scans; I have mine setup to run a full system scan every night at 04:00am.</p><p><strong>Firefox and NoScript</strong></p><p>I highly recommend switching from Microsoft Internet Explorer to Mozilla Firefox with the NoScript plugin. NoScript is a really cool plug-in that cuts the risk of being infected by a keylogger.</p><p>You may have been on a forum and seen someone posting a link to something that sounds really cool. You click the link and get keylogged instantly without actually knowing it. This is because hackers sometimes use hidden code, on web sites you visit, to infect your computer. NoScript is an extension, or add-on, for Fox which automatically blocks Javascript and Java from running. If you trust a website, you click the NoScript button and tell it to allow scripts either temporarily or permanently for that specific site. It's great.</p><p><strong>Flashblock</strong></p><p>Flashblock is another add-on for Firefox which blocks all Flash content until you specifically allow the content to be viewed. This is useful for avoiding potential risks with infected Flash content.</p><p><strong>Malware</strong></p><p>Anti-virus software is NOT enough. You also need to download and install good anti-malware software because even the best anti-virus can sometimes have problems detecting and removing threats. I highly recommend Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware <b>and</b> SUPERAntiSpyware. Both are free and do a very good job.</p><p><strong>Security Checklist</strong></p><p>Buy the Blizzard Authenticator.<br />Install anti-virus software and keep it updated - scan regularly.<br />Choose a complex password.<br />Install Firefox and NoScript.<br />Pick good password - complex and unique.<br />Don't Share your account with anyone.<br />Don't buy power levelling services.<br />Don't buy, sell or trade your account.<br />Check your browser status bar for masked links.<br />Use Windows Update regularly.<br />Install Flashblock for Firefox.<br />Install anti-malware software.<br />Don't click links right away. Think before you click.<br />Treat every Blizzard email, which requests personal information, as fake.<br />Double check you're on an official Blizzard website before entering any log-in details.<br />Make sure the log-in page is secure (<b>https</b> as opposed to <b>http</b>).</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p><a href="http://www.splotty.com" target="_new">Splotty</a> is a web site which delivers video game news for free-to-play and pay-to-play online multiplayer games. Check out <a href="http://www.splotty.com" target="_new">Splotty</a> for the latest game trailers, news, articles and screenshots for massively multiplayer games such as Everquest, TERA, Runes of Magic, World of Warcraft, Age of Conan and many many more!</p> <br />

How To Void Getting Hacked in World of Warcraft

How does a Battle.net account become compromised? Hackers will prey on your trust, naivety and innocence to discover your log-in credenti...

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PayPal Hack - My PayPal Got Hacked And How I Got it Back

<br /> <p>This is a story about how my PayPal account got hacked and how I got it back. I had an unlucky day but with a little tinge of lady luck's blessings which helped me to get back to square one. This story gives a good advice for all the PayPal account holders on earth.</p><p>Day 1 - 8.30 PM IST</p><p>I just logged in into my gmail account to check the emails, I was shocked to see 4 emails from PayPal. 1. Password Changed, 2. Payment sent to some email address 3. Bank accounts removed 4. Primary email address changed. Oh my God!, I had $X,XXX in PayPal balance. While I was seeing these emails my gmail also got logged out. When I tried to login again, it did not. The hacker watched my every move. My primary email ID was the one which I used for all my business and personal contacts and it had 14000 archived emails and chat conversations.</p><p>I was feeling like blindfolded and left in a unknown forest. I just could not believe that this had happened to me. I had Norton anti virus + norton internet security and Spyware doctor, both of them licensed versions!! I know all about fake emails and phishing stuffs, I never clicked on suspicious links.</p><p>I realized that... "You are safe only if no one targets to attack you."</p><p>After a few minutes, someone added me to Yahoo messenger and said 'Hi'. I guessed that it was the hacker and it was. The very first sentence he told me was 'Hi, don't worry, you will get back everything within 7 days' .. He told me that he was a good guy and this is the first time he hacked someone. He also told me that he was in real need of the funds and would return my funds within 7 days. I almost believed him. I told him to give back my gmail account and told him that it was very important to me, and to my surprise he gave it back. He asked me what password I needed for the new account and he set it. I logged in and changed the password again. I was happy that I got back my gmail but was still very uncomfortable about the feeling that someone had watched me for so long!!</p><p>I was late in the night, I was sleepy but I had to hold on. I backed up all my files in my iPod and did a system recovery. After 45 minutes, my PC was as good as new. I again changed all the passwords and got back to sleep at midnight.</p><p>Day 2 - 6.00 AM IST</p><p>I saw my friend was online. I chatted with him and told him the entire story. He scolded me that I have not responded in timely fashion. He was so sure that the hacker was no good and chatted with me to make sure I don't call PayPal. The hacker did not achieve that but however he delayed me by 10 hours. I spent nearly 30 minutes waiting for PayPal representative and then some one showed up. I told PayPal, the entire story and they listened carefully. They assured me that 'I will not be held responsible for unauthorized payments sent from my account'. I felt good but not very good, I was not so sure that I would get back the money. I did what I could have done and I needed to relax. I took rest from this issue.</p><p>Day 3 - 7 PM EST</p><p>I called PayPal again. It needs a ton of patience to get connected with them. It took a few minutes to spot my account. They told me that "Your fraudulent payments were reversed, did you check your account". I just jumped right there and was so happy. But I COULD NOT LOGIN into my PayPal because the password was not with me! :(</p><p>I was not able to reset my password because the hacker also changed the security questions! They advised me to send all the documents and they will help to recover the password.</p><p>After a few minutes the hacker came online again. And LOL what nerves he got!!.. He asked me to send the documents to him because he said my account got limited and needs to be unlocked!! I refrained myself from talking abusive words and just managed the situation and logged out.</p><p>Day 4 - 6 PM EST</p><p>I logged in into yahoo messenger and I saw that the hacker had left me an offline message. Wow! he got frustrated I guess. He left me the PayPal email and password. I logged in and viola! I went inside my PP. Lovely moment it was.. The balance was intact. The four fraudulent payments were reversed. The account was limited though. I just printed the fax cover sheet and sent them the docs.</p><p>Day 4 - 3 PM IST</p><p>I got an email that my PayPal account has been restored. I immediately went in and sent 4 big payments to my friends and family members. I could breathe now again!</p><p>Now whats next?.. everything is back to square one! Now that I have learnt a good lesson. If we think something like "This can never happen to me" you actually attract that situation and within a few days you realize it... the dream comes true.. even though its a bad dream in this case.</p><p>I contacted me friends and everyone told me that I need to kick out Norton and Spyware Doctor and buy Kaspersky because thats what is best in the market. I went to that site and reviewed their products. They had anti virus and Internet Security 7.0. The anti virus comes inbuilt within Internet Security and hence its enough to buy the latter one. For one year it costs around $60 and for 2 years its around $95. I just bought it right away and installed it, activated it. Again I changed all my important passwords.</p><p>Bottom line: If you think it wont happen to you, one day it will happen, and you will think about the day when you thought that it won't happen to you.</p><p>Now that I got my money back, but it may not happen all the time to all the people. You just need to be on top of it.</p><p>Good Luck!</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>[http://www.CyberSafety.in] - Protect you PC. Prevent Hacking and Password theft.</p> <br />

PayPal Hack - My PayPal Got Hacked And How I Got it Back

This is a story about how my PayPal account got hacked and how I got it back. I had an unlucky day but with a little tinge of lady luck...

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How to Stop Your Hotmail Email Account From Being Hacked?

<br /> <p>Hotmail email accounts are the easiest and most hacked email service provider. You should be aware that your Hotmail email account is easily hacked. Just recently, 10,000 Hotmail email accounts have been hacked, and all 10,000 accounts have been publicly listed online with all the name and passwords of the account. According to Microsoft, the owners of Hotmail, stated that the causes of the email hacks was due to a phishing scheme. Basically what this means is that the name and passwords were stolen through an email that allows it to steal your password. You can prevent your hotmail account from being hacked by following these simple steps:</p><p>1. Do not login your Hotmail account in any public computer or internet café. These computers are a haven for hackers, because they allow programs to run in the background without you knowing to steal your password. Also, most public computers do not have any anti-virus software at all, so viruses have easy access to your computer leaving you in risk to attack.</p><p>2. Don't have simple or single word passwords. Passwords that are simple or have passwords less than 11 characters can easily be hacked. This is because they can be brute force hacked by cycling through a large dictionary to get into your email account. So when creating your password, make sure it is at least 11 characters long and mix it up with numbers. For instance, hu87hs65hna. Make sure you remember it!</p><p>3. Don't use the same password twice. If they somehow do get your password, all of your other accounts, such as your bank account can be hacked with the same password.</p><p>4. Passwords should be ideally changed monthly. If someone somehow gets your account, you can stop them in their tracks straight away when you change monthly.</p><p>5. Use anti-virus software such as McAfee or Norton's Security to protect yourself from virus. Some virus can capture your password, so these preventions are a good measure.</p><p>6. Don't have passwords visible anywhere on your computer. If you have your account name and password all in one word file, you are susceptible for your password to be stolen. Keep it private!</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Tito King is an Author living in Sydney, Australia. He is interested in reading and creating websites. His latest website is about <a href="http://www.mensdiamondearrings.org/" target="_new">diamond earrings</a> and finding the best <a href="http://www.mensdiamondearrings.org/" target="_new">mens diamond earrings</a> on the web today.</p> <br />

How to Stop Your Hotmail Email Account From Being Hacked?

Hotmail email accounts are the easiest and most hacked email service provider. You should be aware that your Hotmail email account is eas...

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Help! My WoW Account Has Been Hacked!

<br /> <p>If I had a dollar for every time I heard about a WoW account being hacked I'd be able to buy Blizzard some better account security! If you have recently had your WoW account hacked, let me first say that I am sorry. The second thing I would like to tell you is that it is not the end of the world. While most accounts do get most of their items replaced, keep in mind you probably wont get everything back. This article will give you a few tips on how to proceed with the WoW account recovery processes.</p><p>The first thing you will need to do is get a good anti-virus scanner. There is no sense in getting your account information changed and restored and then just getting hacked all over again. You will need to find an anti-virus that finds keyloggers. Some people just decided to do a whole system reformat. If you decided to do this you should get an anti-virus scanner on your computer after the reformat as well just to be extra safe.</p><p>Once you are absolutely sure that your computer is clear of viruses you should then change your e-mail address password. When you call Blizzard they will reset your password. Most likely your e-mail has been hacked along with your Battle.net account. If you want your new World of Warcraft password to be secure when they reset it your going to need to make sure your e-mail account is secure. Most likely your account will also have an authenticator on it from the hackers. If this is true you are going to need to have it removed as well. You should already have your own authenticator on your account. If you had your own authenticator on your account before the hack you will need to get a new authenticator because yours has now been compromised.</p><p>Customer service should give you an e-mail address to e-mail a game master. You will need to e-mail the game master team to get your account restored. Once in game you should tray and make a list of the things which have been taken. You should also try and figure out exactly when the account was taken. You can then send the list and the date as an in game ticket as well as an e-mail. This process usually takes anywhere from 2 days to a week.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Currently Blizzard is looking to seriously reduce the amount of account restorations that they will do. This does not mean they are going to upgrade account security. They will just no longer restore your account after a hack. You NEED to take action now! Visit my site to learn about account security before you become a victim again. <a href="http://wowauthenticator.com/" target="_new">WoW Account Security</a></p> <br />

Help! My WoW Account Has Been Hacked!

If I had a dollar for every time I heard about a WoW account being hacked I'd be able to buy Blizzard some better account security! I...

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Is Your WoW Hacked?

<br /> <p>Many people have been complaining about their WoW accounts being hacked. The problem mainly lies in the fact that hackers have been coming up with more and more cunning ways of hacking accounts. While Blizzard first introduced the WoW Authenticator to try and help the problem, many people are finding that it has not prevented their WoW accounts from becoming WoW hacked. Blizzard Entertainment has had numerous problems in the past with account security. It is not surprising that every time Blizzard comes up with a new way to block people from hacking accounts, the hackers in turn think of a new way to bypass their security measures. This has been a long and tiresome battle for Blizzard Entertainment.</p><p>If you are looking to prevent a WoW hack then you should seriously consider taking a few measures of caution when searching the internet and accessing your WoW account. Often times people do not really realize what caused their account to be hacked in the first place. The majority of WoW hacked accounts are caused by carelessness. This means that if you are downloading add-ons from unknown websites you will probably be hacked.</p><p>One of the more common ways for hackers to operate now days is to install a keylogger onto your computer. A keylogger is a fairly easy file type to disguise and can even be hard to remove once it is already on your computer. Many hackers will toss these keyloggers into add-ons or anti-virus trial software to get people to download them.</p><p>There are several ways that you can check a file for a virus before you download it. If you are not using FireFox browser you should start by downloading that. You may then want to do a simple search on the internet for a service which will scan a file download link before you download it. There are a ton of these available. If you already have an anti-virus you can simply use it scan your file before you decided to take it out of quarantine.</p><p>Vary recently I heard of a new type of WoW hacked account. There was a banner add on some popular guild website hosting services that was causing it. It would inform you that it had detected a keylogger on your computer as a pop-up. Once you clicked the pop-up it would direct you to download another file which would help you remove the keylogger. Of course the file that you would be downloading was actually a keylogger in itself.</p><p>The best way to be safe from a WoW hacked account is to never trust any downloads, only visit popular WoW websites for information, and keep your computer clean with an anti-virus tool.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Keeping your World of Warcraft account secure is top priority. What good is farming gold and advancing your character through content if you can't keep hackers at bay? Check out this link to find out more about the <a href="http://wowauthenticator.com/" target="_new">WoW hacked accounts</a> and keeping your account safe!</p> <br />

Is Your WoW Hacked?

Many people have been complaining about their WoW accounts being hacked. The problem mainly lies in the fact that hackers have been comin...

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Wikileaks hacked prior to latest diplomatic leaks

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/Wikileaks_3-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>Wikileaks reported over the weekend that it has come under attack from a hacking operation, prior to its latest release of hundreds of thousands of secret US diplomatic messages.</P><br /><P>Wikileaks has issued the latest diplomatic leaks to a number of leading newspapers worldwide, with the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/28/us-embassy-cable-leak-diplomacy-crisis">UK's Guardian publishing the documents</A> throughout this week.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Mass DoS attacks</STRONG></P><br /><P>Wikileaks said via Twitter over the weekend: "We are currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack."</P><br /><P>The US state department claims that the latest batch of leaks of hundreds of thousands of secret, confidential messages sent by US embassies will put lives at risk.</P><br /><P>Other newspapers set to publish details of the leaked embassy messages include the New York Times, Spain's El Pais, France's Le Monde and Germany's Spiegel.</P><br /><P>"The material that we are about to release covers essentially every major issue in every country in the world," said Wikileak's founder Julian Assange.</P><br /><P><STRONG>UK PM embarrassment</STRONG></P><br /><P>The latest release of info from Wikileaks follows earlier major leaks of 90,000 secret US records of US military incidents relating to the war in Afghanistan and 400,000 documents relating to the war in Iraq.</P><br /><P>The latest batch of documents are something of a diplomatic nightmare. Sent to the whistle-blowing site via USB stick, they contain information on numerous countries calling for Iran to be bombed by the US, America's annoyance of aviation tax and Mervyn King's apparent lack of respect for the coalition government and Prime Minister Cameron.</P><br /><P>It is suspected that the leaks came from US Army private Bradley Manning, an intelligence analyst arrested in Iraq in June. </P><br /><P>The US state department's legal adviser Harold Koh said the release of the information was against the law and would put lives at risk and that the US government would "not engage in a negotiation regarding the further release or dissemination of illegally obtained US government classified materials," in a letter to Mr Assange.</P>

Wikileaks hacked prior to latest diplomatic leaks

Wikileaks reported over the weekend that it has come under attack from a hacking operation, prior to its latest release of hundreds of thous...

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Top Branded "Secure" USB Flash Drives Hacked

<br /> <p>January 05, 2010, Most major memory brands such as Sandisk, Kingston and Verbatim provide Secure Flash Drives in addition to their standard flash drive range on the market. Secure flash drives promise to keep your data secure from hackers, viruses, water, earthquakes and other natural disasters.</p><p>On January 05, 2010, a design flaw was reported, which would allow an attacker to gain access to secure flash drives manufactured by some of the big brand flash memory-makers. it was reported that it is possible to send a "unlock" flag to the devices which would trigger them to unlock via the computer without requiring the user-set password. German Pen-Test firm SySS GmbH published a paper highlighting the flaws.</p><p><strong>Affected Devices</strong><br /><br><strong>SanDisk</strong> Cruzer? Enterprise FIPS Edition with McAfee USB flash drive, CZ46 - 1GB, SanDisk Cruzer? Enterprise FIPS Edition USB flash drive, CZ32 - 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB<br /> <br /><strong>SanDisk</strong> Cruzer? Enterprise with McAfee USB flash drive, CZ38 - 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB<br /> <br /><strong>SanDisk</strong> Cruzer? Enterprise USB flash drive, CZ22 - 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB<br /> <br /><strong>Kingston</strong> DataTraveler BlackBox (DTBB)<br /> <br /><strong>Kingston</strong> DataTraveler Secure - Privacy Edition (DTSP)<br /> <br /><strong>Kingston</strong> DataTraveler Elite - Privacy Edition (DTEP)<br /> <br /><strong>Verbatim</strong> Corporate Secure FIPS Edition USB Flash Drives 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GB<br /> <br /><strong>Verbatim</strong> Corporate Secure USB Flash Drive 1GB, 2GB, 4GB, 8GBThe flaw is pretty straight-forward. When the drive is connected to the computer, software accompanied with the drive is run on the computer, which authenticates the password supplied and sends an "unlock" flag to the drive. When analyzed under a debugger, the code simply translates to a common "conditional jump", which can be patched to unlock the device.</p><p>Such implementations of security have been criticized by reserve-engineers around the world and certainly raise questions on the design process of the compromised flash drives.</p><p>Many "cracks" for software are based around the same technique of changing the logic of software during runtime, which is easily visible under a good debugger, say OllyDbg and Softice. The concerning fact for public and many users who have purchased these devices is that they had boasted as being certified to FIPS 140-2 Level 2 security validation from the US Government organization NIST ( <a href="http://www.nist.gov/index.html" rel="nofollow" target="_new">National Institute of Standards and Technology</a> ).</p><p>SySS GmbH used OllyDgb to change a flag in the software accompanying the drives to gain access to the drive without knowing the original password. Of course this begs the question, how and why did NIST certify the affected products as secure flash drives when they had such inherent flaws in design.</p><p>NIST is of course upholding their position and said<br /><br><blockquote>"From our initial analysis, it appears that the software authorizing decryption, rather than the cryptographic module certified by NIST, is the source of this vulnerability"</blockquote>Yes of course.</p><p><blockquote>"Nevertheless, we are actively investigating whether any changes in the NIST certification process should be made in light of this issue."</blockquote>The NIST certification is concerned with the cryptographic modules which encipher and decipher the data held on the device. As security buffs will argue, if you put the most secure encryption module behind insecure implementations, it will result in an overall insecure system. For secure flash drives, it is pretty embarrassing to see the top vendors failing to deliver what their product had promised.</p><p>As demonstrated by this flaw, media-led consumers have an incorrect perception of certifications issued by big organizations. These certifications don't ensure that the device is secure, only that the cryptographic module is secure, right.</p><p>Ironkey users would be happy to know that the flaw has not affected their products. Ironkey uses hardware based authentication rather than sending unlock flags to the device. All Ironkey Secure Flash drives remained unaffected by this flaw, and we are not surprised to see sales of this device hitting the roof.</p><p>Remember, not only software is vulnerable, but also hardware. It is easier to analyze software under a debugger, but with the right tools, analyzing hardware under a debugger is just as easy. Particularly vulnerable is the sequence which unlocks the drive once the authentication is complete - which nodoubt should be one of the most guarded routines on the flash drive.</p><p>Luckily, Ironkey has designed its protection from the ground up. Chips on the drive are melted in ePoxy which means gaining access to the hardware is almost impossible, even by the most determined hackers.</p><p>As we understand, if you have spent over the odds to buy a secure flash drive, you shouldn't have to worry about implementation of security on the device. Although Kingston, Sandisk and Verbatim will furiously try to do whatever they can to remedy and bury the problem, we believe it wont be an easy task to restore consumer confidence.</p><p>As expected, Kingston is replacing all affected secure flash memory drives and issued the following statement to reassure its customers;<br /><br><blockquote>Kingston Digital Inc. considers the safety of our customer's data as paramount. Kingston customer's affected by any security risks should please visit our website for further direction on how to address any issues at: <a href="http://www.kingston.com/driveupdate/" rel="nofollow" target="_new">http: //www. kingston. com/driveupdate</a> </blockquote></p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>Article Written By: Jason Mills, Techdna.co.uk<br>

Top Branded "Secure" USB Flash Drives Hacked

January 05, 2010, Most major memory brands such as Sandisk, Kingston and Verbatim provide Secure Flash Drives in addition to their standa...

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Stopping Your Website Getting Hacked and Damaging Your SEO

<br /> <p>Google and other search engines have stepped up aggressively in identifying sites containing malware, link farms, and other content designed to either spread spam, spy on users or cause damage to a visitor's computer.</p><p>Given the significant rise in the number of bots and viruses that infect PCs coming from legitimate websites, if your website falls prey to one of these attacks, it can cause you to be removed from search engine results for a very long time. This is in addition to the reputational risk of having your site become a victim of malware - which is especially painful if you manage credit card or ecommerce transactions, and are expected by users to be completely secure.</p><p>Unfortunately, securing a website isn't easy since a site is online constantly and there are some?truly inventive ways?to hack into it. Since there are a wide variety of web platforms out there, it's hard to provide specifics that apply to everyone, but here are some ways to improve your odds of beating the hackers:</p><p><strong>Use secure passwords</strong>: most security starts with a strong password. A strong password buys you time against brute force attacks (for example, it takes under 2 seconds to brute force the password "giants" but over 200 years for "RanK$nG#On3!-2010"). If your site has other administrative users, enforce minimum password requirements to ensure there are no weak links. Don't write passwords down, don't share them, and change them frequently.<br /> <strong>Don't use obvious usernames</strong>: "admin" and "root" are the most common administrative users - choosing a different name makes it harder to identify an admin account.<br /> <strong>Keep your CMS up to date</strong>: if you use WordPress, Drupal or Joomla! - or any other content management system - keep abreast of the latest security patches and apply them quickly.<br /> <strong>Use security plug-ins</strong>: again, for CMS users, there are some truly excellent plug-ins that can make your platform much more secure. Check what's available for your software and install recommended plug-ins.<br /> <strong>Back up your site regularly</strong>: it's remarkable how many web sites have no back up whatsoever, even ones with significant investment. Ultimately, if your site is compromised, your back up will be the first thing you need to restore your data.</p><p>If you have any form of user-generated content on your site - such as blog comments, forums or user reviews - it's important to monitor activity to protect against comment spam, malicious links and anything else intended to lead the visitor from a legitimate page to somewhere questionable.</p><p>Be vigilant in deleting this content, and use technology such as Akismet or? reCAPTCHA ?to deter bots and spammers. Some sites also restrict IP addresses by country, since certain destinations are notorious for stealing site content and causing other issues. If your company has no business opportunities in a particular country, it may help to block requests from IP addresses originating from there. Additionally, adding your site to? Google Webmaster Tools?only takes moments to set up but Google will then routinely monitor your site for evidence of malware.</p><p>Hacked sites are becoming a major problem, and can derail your progress in developing your online presence and search engine optimization. There are many technical elements to managing a website but even taking these basic precautions gives you a significantly better chance of avoiding becoming a target.</p> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /><br /> <p>James Beswick is the author of "Ranking #1: 50 Essential Tips to Boost Your Search Engine Results" available on Amazon.com at <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452849900?ie=UTF8&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&qid=1279571154&sr=1-1&linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393177&tag=ekcy-20" target="_new">http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1452849900?ie=UTF8&ref_=sr_1_1&s=books&qid=1279571154&sr=1-1&linkCode=shr&camp=213733&creative=393177&tag=ekcy-20</a>.</p><p>For more information, visit <a href="http://ranking-number1.com" target="_new">http://ranking-number1.com</a>.</p> <br />

Stopping Your Website Getting Hacked and Damaging Your SEO

Google and other search engines have stepped up aggressively in identifying sites containing malware, link farms, and other content desig...

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PS3 Firmware 3.50 Hacked

<P><BR><B class=rtop2><B class=r1></B><B class=r2></B><B class=r3></B><B class=r4></B></B><img alt="PS3 Firmware 3.50 Hacked" border="0" height="150" src="http://technologyforum.x10.mx/image//113485matter.jpg" width="200"></P><br /><P>The hackers at PS Jailbreak have been busy. The group has announced a successful exploit of PS3's latest 3.50 firmware as well as 3.42. The hack is employed by the means of a USB mod that enables the PlayStation 3 to run "unapproved content", otherwise known as pirated games.<BR><BR>However, it's not all about piracy because this mod even allows turning your PS3 into a Linux machine. PS Jailbreak has also announced its plans to launch a sister (www.psdowngrade.com) site that allows users to downgrade their consoles to any previous version, which makes it even easier to hack it into modified firmware. PS jailbreak is even positive that they can now handle any future updates or protection that Sony can come up with. Prior versions of PS3 firmware were also broken by the same USB mod, but Sony had patched out the exploit with Firmware 3.42.<BR><BR>However, this time around, PS Jailbreak is quite confident on the invulnerability of their mod. Only time will tell how Sony will react, and if this development will spur the sales of the console, spurred on by pirates and homebrew enthusiasts. Warez versions of PS3 titles have been available for quite some time since the mod was first announced.</P>

PS3 Firmware 3.50 Hacked

The hackers at PS Jailbreak have been busy. The group has announced a successful exploit of PS3's latest 3.50 firmware as well as 3.42. ...

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'Sh*t my dad says' Twitter account hacked

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/images/twitter%20logo-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>One of the most famous Twitter accounts has been hacked – with Sh*t My Day Says putting out spam links. </P><br /><P>The <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/shitmydadsays/status/2204872732577792">Sh*it my dad says</A> account has become so popular that it has produced a <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/twitters-first-twitcom-gets-full-series-690333">television spin off sitcom</A> starring William Shatner which is currently being broadcast in the US. </P><br /><P>However, the stream of humour has recently been hacked, leaving writer Justin to <a href="http://twitter.com/#%21/shitmydadsays/status/2204872732577792">tweet </A>"My dad isn't trying to sell you a crappy lap top, I promise. Don't open any links." </P><br /><P>"Spammers have recently hacked the account of Twitter phenomenon "Sh*tMyDadSays", posting a message to the popular page's 1.8 million followers," <a href="http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2010/11/10/shitmydadsays-hacked-twitter/">said Sophos</A>. </P><br /><P>"The tweet, which has since been removed, said "wow I just got a free dell laptop LOL" and contained a shortened link to a 'make-money-fast' website."</P><br /><P><STRONG>High-profile</STRONG></P><br /><P>Many high profile Twitter accounts have found themselves targeted by hackers – and with a potential audience numbering in the millions they will remain high profile potential victims. </P><br /><P>"Of course it's serious when such a popular Twitter account has its security breached. In theory, malicious hackers could have posted a link to malware or a phishing site - rather than just what appears to be a more traditional spam page," said Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos. </P><br /><P>"It's unclear on this occasion whether the Twitter password was phished, whether it was cracked through a dictionary attack or spyware, or whether the person behind "Sh*tMyDadSays" made the mistake of using the same password on multiple websites. </P><br /><P>"Computer users should always choose a hard-to-guess non-dictionary word as a Twitter password, and never use the same password on multiple websites."</P>

'Sh*t my dad says' Twitter account hacked

One of the most famous Twitter accounts has been hacked – with Sh*t My Day Says putting out spam links. The Sh*it my dad says account has b...

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