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How To Access Any Website Or Forum Without Registering?

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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 19px;"></span><br>
<img alt="Internet King" class="aligncenter" data-mce-src="http://networkmarketingsimplified.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Little-White-Dude-King.jpg" height="346" src="http://networkmarketingsimplified.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/Little-White-Dude-King.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" title="Internet King" width="346"><br>
Visit any forum or website to find something useful and they will ask you to register. Every time a forum asks me to register, I simply close the site. You would probably do the same. But this time, lets face it.<br>
Before I begin, you should know how things work. All websites and forums will block unregistered users, but they won’t block Google Bot. What we will do is to switch our User Agent to that of Google Bot and freely browse any website or forum without registering.<br>
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How To Access Any Website Or Forum Without Registering?

How To Access Any Website Or Forum Without Registering?

Visit any forum or website to find something useful and they will ask you to register. Every time a forum asks me to register, I simply c...

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Four websites that need iPad apps

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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 24px;"></span><br />
<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">
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<img alt="" border="0" class="aligncenter" height="202" mce_src="http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9580/ughipad.jpg" src="http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9580/ughipad.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="156" />The iPad is an amazing device for surfing the web. Its large screen and multitouch gestures make it feel like you're actually holding a web page in your hands.</div>
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Web browsing on the iPad is going to get even better with the release of iOS 5. That's when Safari on iPad gains Reading List and Reader functionality and the all-important tabbed browsing.</div>
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However, as good as the iPad is at handling web browsing, some websites would clearly benefit from a dedicated iPad app. When viewed on an iPad, these sites lack key features that they show off to full effect when used with desktop browsers. Other websites have a high amount of interactivity that may <span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">work</span> on an iPad, but that interactivity doesn't translate well to a touch interface.</div>
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I realize that any website could be made into an iPad app. Most websites, however, don't need them. Here at TUAW, for example, there's not much interactivity that goes on when you visit beyond clicking on articles and posting comments. Both of those things are handled easily on an iPad. The same goes for other mainly news-driven sites where the main feature is reading -- dedicated apps really aren't needed.</div>
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For more complex interactions, an app is a big help. Here's my list of four websites that need an iPad app... and also one service (or group of iPad apps, really) that needs a website.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">1. Facebook.com</span></div>
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<img alt="" border="1" hspace="4" mce_src="http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/724/facebooklogo1.jpg" src="http://img839.imageshack.us/img839/724/facebooklogo1.jpg" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" vspace="4" /></div>
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Facebook is the biggest offender among websites missing an iPad app. Why? Well, the site does have 750 million users. By the beginning of next year there will be 50 million iPads on the market -- and most of those iPad owners use Facebook. However, the site's traffic doesn't alone dictate the need for an iPad app. No, Facebook.com needs an iPad app because its web functionality is cumbersome when viewed through Safari on the iPad and some features are missing entirely.</div>
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The biggest missing feature while viewing Facebook's website on the iPad is Chat. There's just no way to chat with all your Facebook friends through Facebook.com on the iPad. There's also no way to upload photos or video to your wall, as tapping on "Upload" won't access your Camera Roll or Photos libraries on your iPad. Furthermore, Facebook relies on a lot of pop-up windows that you need to scroll through. These windows normally appear when you click on "<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">X number of people like this</span>" links below a wall post. If the list of number of people who "like" that post is long, you have to scroll through it to see everyone on the list. This is doable on the iPad by using two-finger scrolling, but many iPad users don't know about multitouch scrolling of a window within a web page; this contributes to the overall poor user experience for Facebook.com on the iPad.</div>
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Thankfully we know that Facebook is working on an iPad app, which looks to be both cool and very functional Now all we have to do is hope Facebook actually decides to release its iPad app to the public. Soon.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">2. Mint.com</span></div>
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<img alt="" mce_src="http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1456/mintlogo71.jpg" mce_style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 8px;" src="http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/1456/mintlogo71.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 640px;" /></div>
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I'm a Mint junkie. It's the perfect solution for keeping track of multiple financial accounts. What's more, after Intuit bought the company, fears of Mint getting fouled up turned out to be largely unfounded; the site has actually only gotten better. However, Mint.com needs an iPad app.</div>
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Why? Primarily because Mint features a huge amount of user interactivity. Not only can you see a complete overview of your financial accounts on the website, you can edit transactions, set budgets, create goals, and view trends -- from a desktop browser, at least. None of those features work well (most, not at all) on Mint.com on the iPad.</div>
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Mint fans have been waiting (mostly patiently) for an iPad app for some time. When I interviewed Mint's founder Aaron Patzer, he told me that the company was working on an iPad app. That was over 18 months ago. More recently Mint has asked its users to hold on a little longer as the developer teams are "busy developing an iPad app." The iPad app won't be a simple rework of the iPhone version, but it will be "a brand new experience." Let's hope so.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">3. LinkedIn.com</span></div>
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<img alt="" mce_src="http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8872/linkedinlogow.png" mce_style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 8px;" src="http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/8872/linkedinlogow.png" style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 640px;" /></div>
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If you're looking for the Facebook equivalent for business relationships, it's LinkedIn. The site allows users to keep connected with their colleagues and business contacts; it's a great alternative to Facebook or other more casual 'friend' networks, especially when you don't want to risk your boss seeing those pictures of you in compromising situations.</div>
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While LinkedIn.com is mostly functional through Safari on the iPad, the site offers a high amount of interactivity via searching for contacts or jobs, updating your profile, creating status updates, etc, that could benefit immensely from a dedicated iPad app.</div>
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It's worth mentioning that LinkedIn deserves credit for being the company that took what was one of the most horrendously designed UI's of any iPhone app (they originally let users change the color scheme of the app, allowing them to choose from over a dozen colors -- including hot pink) and completely reimagined it, turning it into one of the slickest -- both in design and navigation -- iPhone apps on the market. That gives me a lot of confidence that LinkedIn will be able to pull off a killer iPad app.</div>
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Thankfully on the day LinkedIn announced its overhauled iPhone app, I learned from a source familiar with their mobile plans that the company is indeed working on a dedicated iPad app. However, like Facebook and Mint, there's no set time frame for a release.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">4. Google Docs</span></div>
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<img alt="" mce_src="http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/654/googledocst.jpg" mce_style="border-width: 0px; border-style: solid; margin: 8px;" src="http://img713.imageshack.us/img713/654/googledocst.jpg" style="border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-style: solid; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-style: solid; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 8px; margin-right: 8px; margin-top: 8px; max-width: 640px;" /></div>
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Google Docs is great. The suite of web apps from the search, email and advertising giant allows you to create and share documents, spreadsheets, presentations and more all through your desktop web browser. While Google does offer limited functionality for Docs on the iPad through a mobile version of the site, the mobile version lacks the rich editing capabilities of the desktop web-based version. That's due in part to some limitations in the iPad's mobile Webkit implementation. You can switch to the desktop view in Docs on your iPad, but don't expect it to behave quite like the original.</div>
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It's true that there are iPad office application suites that work well with Google Docs. QuickOffice Pro HD and Documents to Go both allow you to download and edit documents from your Google account (see our head-to-head review here). Less-expensive, and correspondingly less functional apps for editing include Office<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="sup" mce_style="vertical-align: super;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; vertical-align: super;">2</span> HD and GoDocs. None of these truly delivers the simplicity and functionality of Google's cloud offering.</div>
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When looking at the iPad as a serious productivity device, Apple's leading the with its iWork suite -- but Pages, Numbers and Keynote don't interoperate with Google Docs in any meaningful way, forcing users to go through hoops to get at their files. It's a frustrating hiccup in what should be a really easy and graceful workflow.</div>
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That's why Google could transform the tablet document-editing space by creating a best-in-class dedicated iPad app for its suite. Go all the way or don't go at all. Apple's showed it can be done and I'm sure there are many users who would prefer an alternative to shelling out $10 an app for the iWork suite for rich text, presentation, and spreadsheet editing. Then again, it's not necessarily clear that Google has a strong motivation to make the iPad even more of a world-beater, so we may be stuck with third-party solutions on this one... or Apple could add the Docs API to iWork and turn everything upside-down.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">And three apps (or one service) that needs an iPad-compatible website...</span></div>
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<img alt="" border="1" hspace="4" mce_src="http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/4947/icloudipad.png" src="http://img594.imageshack.us/img594/4947/icloudipad.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" vspace="4" /></div>
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<a href="http://icloud.com/" mce_href="http://icloud.com" style="color: #0066cc; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;"><span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="strong" mce_style="font-weight: bold;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.5;">iCloud.com</span></a></div>
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Yes, like MobileMe's website (www.me.com) before it, navigating to www.icloud.com on an iPad brings you to an iPad-specific web page that informs you that if you want to check your iCloud emails, contacts, or calendars on an iPad you have to do so through the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars apps that ship on the device. That's well and good, and the iPad apps function better than any web apps ever could -- but if it's not<span class="Apple-style-span" mce_name="em" mce_style="font-style: italic;" style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-style: italic; line-height: 1.5;">your</span> iPad you want to check your email on and you are using an iCloud email account, you're out of luck. There is simply no easy way to check your iCloud (or MobileMe) email on an iOS device unless you enable your account to be used with the built-in apps on the device. (You may be able to get around this by using a third-party browser like iCab that allows you to spoof the user agent, but it's clumsy.)</div>
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As far as iPhones go, I get the limitation. How often do we use someone else's phone to check our email, right? But on an iPad, which is more of a multi-user device (think sharing with the family or traveling in a group with one iPad, as you might do on a long trip across Europe), there's no way for multiple people to check their iCloud emails without all adding their accounts in the Mail, Contacts, and Calendars settings on the iPad. Doing so will of course enable all email accounts to show up in Mail, potentially causing confusion, privacy concerns, or emails being sent from the wrong account. Apple, if you are listening, I implore you to allow access to iCloud email accounts through Safari on the iPad -- even as a 'pro' option enabled in the account settings. It's an unnecessary barrier.</div>
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So that's my list of the biggest iPad app-less offenders. I'd love to hear from you which websites you think really need an iPad app. Let me know in the comments!</div>
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Four websites that need iPad apps

Four websites that need iPad apps

The iPad is an amazing device for surfing the web. Its large screen and multitouch gestures make it feel like you're actually holdin...

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Apple revamps Student Jobs page

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<div style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; font-size: 12px; font: normal normal normal 13px/19px Georgia, 'Times New Roman', 'Bitstream Charter', Times, serif; line-height: 18px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px; padding-bottom: 0.6em; padding-left: 0.6em; padding-right: 0.6em; padding-top: 0.6em;">
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<img alt="" class="aligncenter" height="218" mce_src="http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9228/studentapplejobs.png" src="http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/9228/studentapplejobs.png" style="border-bottom-width: 0px; border-color: initial; border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-top-width: 0px; clear: both; color: #444444; display: block; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0px; max-width: 640px;" width="201" /></div>
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Apple has revamped their Student Jobs page, which allows students or recent graduates to find work opportunities with Apple. The newly revamped page offers a simplified layout with job opportunities sorted into two sections:</div>
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<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;">"I'm currently in school" lists all Apple Campus Rep, internship, and Retail store positions.</li>
<li style="color: #444444; font-family: Georgia, 'Bitstream Charter', serif; line-height: 1.5;">"I have my degree" lists all Apple Retail store, Apple Store Leadership Program, and Corporate openings.</li>
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Each category in those two sections are further broken down into subcategories. For example, "Internships" allows you to search for internships based on your degree level. If you're working on an MA or PhD Apple has different internships available than if you're working on your undergraduate.</div>
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One program which not too many people may be familiar with is the Apple Leadership Program. This has been internally referred to as the "Apple MBA." From the Student Jobs site description:</div>
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The Apple Store Leader Program is a 24-month immersion into every aspect of managing and operating an Apple Retail Store. In this international program, you'll spend time in key store positions - gaining sales skills working as a Specialist, teaching others as a Creative, and resolving problems at the Genius Bar.</div>
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As you progress, you'll be mentored by a Market Leader, participate in training experiences, and help guide and direct store teams. When you finish the program, you'll have distinctive skills and knowledge, as well as the opportunity to apply for a leadership position at one of our stores anywhere in the world.</div>
</blockquote>
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The requirements for all Apple student jobs opportunities are listed the the Student Jobs page.</div>
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Apple revamps Student Jobs page

Apple revamps Student Jobs page

Apple has revamped their Student Jobs page, which allows students or recent graduates to find work opportunities with Apple. The newly...

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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 />

Stopping Your Website Getting Hacked and Damaging Your SEO

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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In Depth: Learn from the hackers: how to avoid website exploits

<div align="center"><img src="http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/7928/pcp302make8bodyimage320.jpg" /></div>When large data breaches are announced, the media can go overboard with its  portrayal of hackers as uber-geeks with flashing fingers and skills that are  almost supernatural in origin. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth.  <br />
By using basic tools and a logical approach, hackers turn websites into  playgrounds full of interesting servers to explore, subvert and destroy. There  are databases to plunder; there are pages to deface. <br />
But just what is their approach, and how can we learn to avoid it?<br />
<strong>Footprints on the web </strong><br />
Once a hacker finds a website that could be worth exploring, their first task  is to create a detailed profile of the target, called a footprint. This  identifies the basic building blocks of the site and enables the hacker to draw  a map of how everything fits together. <br />
Unfortunately, the way websites work provides hackers with lots of useful  information without them having to do much. If there's a login process, for  example, they know there's a database containing usernames and passwords. If the  site has an ecommerce element, they know there's a shopping cart product in use,  or some handcrafted and potentially vulnerable code to try to subvert. <br />
Similarly, a catalogue of products indicates another database, which could  link to a stock control server and possibly also a re-ordering application  containing information about trade accounts. The hacker will also survey links  to ad servers that feed content into the site. They will also consult the DNS  records for the domain.<br />
DNS is the only way to keep track of what's on the internet and where it all  is. But it also gives information about all the publicly accessible servers  owned by a domain, regardless of whether their addresses and names are meant for  public consumption. <br />
When I began working as a network security consultant, I found that it was  easy to shock clients by showing them their DNS records, and then drawing a map  of how I believed their servers were plumbed together. Some network admins had  been naïve enough to think that all their important servers needed public IP  addresses, making them easy to profile prior to an attack. <br />
<strong>DNS information </strong><br />
Windows and Linux have tools capable of interrogating DNS, but they're fiddly  command line utilities. Luckily, plenty of websites provide easy access to DNS  information, including <a href="http://www.kloth.net/services/dig.php">Kloth.net</a>. Enter the name of a  domain you're interested in (such as pcplus.co.uk) and press [Enter]. In the  answers section that appears, you'll see lines containing the domain name and  associated IP addresses. <br />
<div align="center"><img alt="Kloth.net" src="http://img257.imageshack.us/img257/3756/pcp302make8bodyimage142.jpg" width="420" /></div>To search for a possible web server, add www. to the start of the domain and  press [Enter]. This time you'll see the domain's web server. If you change the  query type to 'MX' and click 'Look it up', the answers section will contain the  name of the computer acting as the local mail server (technically called the  mail exchanger). <br />
This name may be the same as the web server, but if it has a different name,  enter it into the 'Domain' input box to see its details. <br />
Another important part of this process is the use of a port scanner such as  nmap to discover what services are running on each internet-facing server. See  nmap in action at <a href="http://nmap-online.com/">www.nmap-online.com</a>. The  default IP address is your own computer. <br />
<div align="center"><img alt="Nmap" src="http://img822.imageshack.us/img822/3461/pcp302make8bodyimage242.jpg" width="420" /></div>To scan it for open ports, click the 'I agree with terms of service' and then  click 'Scan now'. Enter an email address for the site to notify when the scan is  complete, along with a password to access the results. <br />
Nmap sends carefully crafted packets to each potentially open port and  analyses the information returned to discover not only what's running, but  sometimes even detailed information about the running operating system and its  TCP/IP stack. This can aid hackers in profiling a website and formulating a  coming attack. <br />
If a mail server is also running port 80, there's a good chance that  connecting to it via a web browser will reveal a web mail interface that may  have exploitable bugs. However, if the hacker is met by a default Apache web  server installation page, it may be that system administrator installed the web  server but has forgotten about it. It's likely that the software has never been  patched and is vulnerable to a range of exploits. <br />
By examining the verbiage returned with the web page, the hacker can  determine the exact release of the software and any extra modules installed.  Finding a NetBIOS service running (ports 137 and 139) indicates that the server  runs Windows. An SQL service (port 1143) indicates that there's a database  engine running, and so on. <br />
<div align="center"><img alt="detailed map" src="http://img191.imageshack.us/img191/8518/pcp302make8diagram24201.jpg" width="420" /></div>It's possible to build a detailed map of a domain's capabilities and  vulnerabilities from this process. <br />
Once the hacker has constructed a detailed footprint of the website's  hardware and basic software, their attention turns to the web applications.  Computer science says that above a certain level of complexity, no program can  ever be free of bugs. Luckily for the hacker, less skilled programmers keep  making the same basic assumptions and mistakes in the logic of web applications.  <br />
The first task is to map out how the apps work. The hacker begins with a  simple click-through of the site to note the names of the pages and what they  contain – which ones need authentication, for example. This tells them a great  deal, but they can also delve deeper by mapping out the actual directory  structure on the server. <br />
Directory mapping is a matter of noting down the paths in the URL bar of the  browser during the click-through. This reveals a lot of detail about the  structure of the site, and can give indications about the skill of the web  designer. Some structures reveal the hand of a site-builder program at work, in  which case a hacker can consult a list of known exploits for sites made with  that program. <br />
<div align="center"><img alt="Hack this site" src="http://img403.imageshack.us/img403/3706/pcp302make8box1image142.jpg" width="420" /></div>The hacker notes the methods pages use to pass data from input boxes to PHP  scripts. Do they use the GET or POST methods? Each implies the type of  processing used by the site's scripts, and may provide ideas about testing for  weaknesses in the way rogue input values are dealt with. <br />
The web is set up to serve the index file of any URL you enter, so the hacker  will try adding likely directory names to the domain name to see what he can  find. For example, for www.victimsite.com, they might try  'www.victimsite.com/admin' to see if they can access an administration page.  <br />
Another great source of hidden directories is the 'robots.txt' file. This is  a plain text file that sits in the root directory of websites and contains  directives to search engines about which directories are OK to index and which  aren't. The 'robots.txt' file has to contain a list of all the directories that  the hacker shouldn't know about, which highlights the need to avoid putting  anything on a site that you wouldn't want to find on Google. Where you can't  avoid this, don't give files obvious names. <br />
So-called helper files are also a useful source of information for the  hacker. Cascading style sheets, Java classes and embedded JavaScript all give an  indication of the skill level of the person who coded the site. This gives an  idea of the kinds of errors to expect. <br />
One of the biggest mistakes made in trying to secure a site is to have users  validate themselves using JavaScript embedded in the login page. To the  developer, the ease of use, compatibility across browsers and speed all seem  like benefits, but the advantages are all on the side of the hacker. <br />
<strong>The attack begins </strong><br />
The hacker now has a footprint of your site, a list of hidden directories and  a map of how the scripts fit together to make up the site's applications. What  now? <br />
They have many options to choose from. The simplest is to point a  password-cracker at the administrator account and leave it to gain entry for the  purposes of stealing information that can be sold on, or to simply deface the  site. This childish activity is normally associated with 'script kiddies' –  teenagers who consider themselves hackers, but just run scripts developed by  others. <br />
Real hackers will begin to explore weaknesses in the services identified as  part of the footprint. On discovering an SQL service, for example, they can try  connecting a telnet client to the port to gain command line access to the  database management system (DBMS). Similarly, FTP and Telnet services are easily  attacked using password crackers and by exploiting bugs in their software with  buffer overflow attacks that can give command line access to the server. <br />
A more knowledgeable hacker still will try to break or bypass the validation  code applied to an input field on a web page to see what happens. Validation  code is supposed to take the values of input fields and sanitise them, rejecting  data that's clearly wrong. <br />
If an input field is supposed to contain a number, for example, its  validation should reject input if it contains anything other than the digits  0-9. If the hacker enters letters and doesn't get an error message, he can tell  that the validation code is lacking. If the input field is for a part number, it  may form the basis of a query to a back-end SQL database. <br />
That being the case, the hacker will ask what happens if they enter the SQL  statement termination symbol (the ' symbol), followed by their own query. If  this works, they could then ask the database for a list of tables. If they find  ones that store customer details and credit card information, it's game  over.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.techradar.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Source.</a>

In Depth: Learn from the hackers: how to avoid website exploits

In Depth: Learn from the hackers: how to avoid website exploits

When large data breaches are announced, the media can go overboard with its portrayal of hackers as uber-geeks with flashing fingers and sk...

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How to Download Songs From the Hummaa.com Website

How to Download Songs From the Hummaa.com Website

How to Download Songs From the Hummaa.com Website

Visit Hummaa.com (see Resources). Click the "Register for Free" link and follow the guided prompts to create an account if you do...

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Sunderland man claims world's first 3D website

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/3dwebsite-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>A site claiming to be the 'world's first 3d website' has been launched, although you will need active glasses, a 3D ready television and a browser that you run through your screen. </P><br /><P>Sunderland's Stereografix have devised the offering which can be seen at <a href="http://www.stereoscopic-3d.co.uk/">http://www.stereoscopic-3d.co.uk</A>. </P><br /><P>Stereografix founder Saif Chaudhry told the <a href="http://www.nebusiness.co.uk/business-news/latest-business-news/2010/12/17/world-s-first-3d-website-is-pioneered-in-region-51140-27840918/">nebusiness.co.uk</A>: "I don't think many people are even thinking this far ahead, and we've got a prototype already. It's not every day you can say you're first with something where the internet is concerned.</P><br /><P><img alt="3D site" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/3dwebsite-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG></P><br /><P><STRONG>A lot more</STRONG></P><br /><P>"I think there needs to be a lot more 3D TVs and computer monitors out there before it becomes mainstream, but peoplearen'tjust going to go out and buy these things unless they've got something to show on them," he continued.</P><br /><P>Of course, there are likely to be a few quibbles about whether this qualifies as the first 3D website; 3D videos have been floating around on the likes of YouTube for some time for instance. </P><br /><P>But it's nice to see a UK company making the claim anyway – and the site is well worth a look (if you have the kit, of course) . </P><br /><P>There is a version for people with passive 3D televisions planned, although the current version needs the powered active glasses.</P>

Sunderland man claims world's first 3D website

Sunderland man claims world's first 3D website

A site claiming to be the 'world's first 3d website' has been launched, although you will need active glasses, a 3D ready televi...

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How to Create a Website With Electronic Checks

<ADDRESS class="Note byline">Electronic checks are an often-overlooked online payment option. If you have a product to sell online, you need a website that accepts digital payments. Credit and debit card vendors are an obvious choice, but another choice that web masters sometimes forget to offer customers is electronic checks. Paying with an electronic check requires providing a checking account and routing number. The check is processed electronically rather than needing to be physically deposited into a bank account.<br /><P></P>Difficulty:Moderately Easy1 <br /><P>Go to a website that offers electronic check payment options. Three solutions are PayByCheck.com, Authorize.net and iCheckGateway.com. These websites will process payments and deposit the money into your bank account, for a fee. There is a set-up, monthly and per-check fee to be paid. The payments, as of December 2010, are: PayByCheck.com, $149.95 (start-up), $19.95 (monthly) and $0.50 (per check); Authorize.net, $99.00 (start-up), $20.00 (monthly) and $0.10 (per check); iCheckGateway.com, $49.95 (start-up), $19.95 (monthly) and $0.45 (per check).</P>2 <br /><P>Click "Apply" or "Sign Up." Enter your <a href="">business</A> information, such as your name, the business's name, tax ID, address (physical and mailing) and contact data.</P>3 <br /><P>Pay for the start-up fees (with credit, debit or check). Copy the code given to you and insert it in into your website ("CTRL+C" to copy and "CTRL+V" to insert). This code creates a payment page for your customers. Whenever someone pays for your product via electronic check, the payment will go through the processor.</P><a class="readNext jsNoFollow" rel="http://www.ehow.com/way_5332992_buy-stuff-online-electronic-checks.html"></A><a class="twitter-share-button" data-count="horizontal" data-text="How to Create a Website With Electronic Checks" data-url="http://www.ehow.com/how_7650672_create-website-electronic-checks.html" data-via="ehow" href="http://twitter.com/share"></A></ADDRESS>

How to Create a Website With Electronic Checks

How to Create a Website With Electronic Checks

Electronic checks are an often-overlooked online payment option. If you have a product to sell online, you need a website that accepts digit...

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You Need a System Administrator - A Guide for Website and Small Business Owners

<P>If you are reading this article, it's a good bet that you already have a website that matters to you, and you also aren't taking care of it the way you should. I know that sounds like a harsh way to start off an article I hope you will take the time to read through, but you are like hundreds of thousands of other website owners in this regard, so don't feel too bad about it. I am hoping to help you be in a better position and better protected.</P><br /><P>The average website owner, who plans to make some money through their website, needs help. They may already be making a living, either directly or indirectly, through the efforts they've put into their website. They also very likely to be a sitting duck, waiting to be shot by a passing automated or directed attacker. The internet, known in everyone's awareness to be a dangerous place, is like a back-alley in a dangerous part of town. Except on the internet you don't just have to worry about people who might target you specifically, you also have to worry about those who have set up automated methods to seek out your vulnerabilities and abuse you.</P><br /><P>The first thing you should worry about is not someone looking to get into your website and do bad things. It's improbable, but not impossible, that someone has put any mental effort into choosing you as a victim. Instead, your first priority should be the automated 'bots' that are constantly patrolling for weak websites and servers to exploit. In 2004, an experiment was ran by researchers who put a number of newly-installed, non-updated computers on the internet and started their stopwatch. In less than 4 minutes, the machines were infected with all sorts of nastiness and then used to seek out other machines for infection (1). A note on that number though...4 minutes was the average. Some Windows computers were hacked within 30 seconds...long before a computer operator could secure them with the latest patches from Microsoft. For what it's worth, Linux and Macintosh systems were never compromised in that experiment, though automated attacks for those operating systems do exist. There has been no sign of things getting better in the past couple years. Even before Windows Vista was released for public sale there were people able to attack it. For these reasons, no computer should be connected to the internet without being protected by a firewall.</P><br /><P>All I've stated in the previous paragraph is about personal workstations, but it all equally applies to the server for your website. In this case, a computer is a computer. If you are on a managed server at your webhosting provider, you'd better hope they have updated the server and put some firewalling in place before it goes live. It's very likely they have, but it's always worth a question to them about the state of their security and whether they have an automated patching process in place so that newly discovered exploits are taken care of before the automated bots come to you.</P><br /><P>Here's where things get sticky. If you've got even the slightest queasiness in the pit of your stomach right now about asking intelligent questions of your webhost provider, you need someone to ask those questions for you. I'll get back to who that is exactly in a second, though if you've read the title of this article you already know what I'll tell you.</P><br /><P>Things get even messier the more popular your site is and how much resources you need to run it. At a certain point, you may find yourself requiring a colocation (a server owned by you but sitting on the racks at a webhosting provider) or a rented/lease server solution. In these cases, unless you purchase a service contract to maintain it from the webhosting provider, you are going to be responsible for the security of the server. Are you ready for that, muddling through applying security patches, blocking access to certain ports, managing automated and verified backups, doing security audits of the website code and having what could very possibly be tens of thousands of lines of log files emailed to you for inspection every day? Hooray for you if you are capable if this! Double-hooray if you are not, because you've just made my point. You need a system administrator and a fresh cup of your favorite beverage.</P><br /><P>A system administrator is the person who watches out for your interests on the internet, like a security guard that also makes sure you aren't doing something silly like leaving your front door open or the keys in your car. Their responsibility is to verify that not only can the attackers not get in, but they aren't seeing enough information to know where your vulnerabilities lie. They are there to watch the reports of vulnerabilities and make sure your server is up-to-date to protect against automated and non-automated attacks. They've got the expertise to back up your important files and databases and keep them in a secured location, while verifying that the backups will actually restore properly to a new location if they attackers do find a way in (or the computer hardware fails, or any variety of other catastrophes). Not only that, but they can help you right from the start too...making sure the server you are planning on operating with has the required power to do the job you want it to do and is protected as much as possible against common but unexpected things like hard drive failure.</P><br /><P>So, if I haven't sent you running for the hills and abandoning all technology, consider your current status and what you could lose if everything you currently have on the internet disappears, never to be seen again. Your need for a system administrator can be satisfied and you'll sleep better at night, having a guardian angel watching over your digital availability. You need a system administrator and now all you have to do is find a good one. That, I'm afraid, is a topic for another article.</P>

You Need a System Administrator - A Guide for Website and Small Business Owners

You Need a System Administrator - A Guide for Website and Small Business Owners

If you are reading this article, it's a good bet that you already have a website that matters to you, and you also aren't taking car...

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Protecting Your Website Database From Hackers

<P>There is one topic in technology that many people seem to forget when developing their websites. This topic is security. Many people will create their websites and will forget the importance of computer security when creating their scripts. This mistake leads to many troubles down the road.</P><br /><P>It is surprising how many people are lazy when it comes to securing their websites. Many people get the mindset of "Oh, well this cannot possibly happen to me, my website is not as big as other websites." This is a terrible way of thinking, and will only lead to your website getting hacked. A common mistake in computer security is forgetting to protect their databases from SQL injection.</P><br /><P>SQL injection is something that is extremely easy for hackers to learn, and is something that many websites forget to protect themselves from. The funny part about it is, protecting yourself from SQL injection is pretty easy, but so many webmasters skip it when programming their web script.</P><br /><P>If a hacker manages to successfully use SQL injection on your website, then they can get access to all of your information in your databases, and can even destroy all of the data, completely corrupting your website. With this damage, you might be thinking now, "How can I protect my website from this?"</P><br /><P>Protecting your site from SQL injection is simple. If you are programming with PHP, then all you have to do is use PHP's mysql_real_escape_string function on any variable in your SQL queries. This will prevent just about all injections that hackers will use. If you really want to be secure, you should also set your database user permissions to prevent commands like DROP TABLE.</P><br /><P>Even though you may have used the function to protect your site from injections, you will also want to encrypt any private, personal data. In case of any events where hackers do break your defenses and get access to your data, you will want information like passwords encrypted so hackers cannot see what they are.</P><br /><P>Hopefully these tips will help you with keeping your web scripts protected. Using simple things like data encryption and PHP's mysql_real_escape_string function will keep your databases secure from many hackers.</P>

Protecting Your Website Database From Hackers

Protecting Your Website Database From Hackers

There is one topic in technology that many people seem to forget when developing their websites. This topic is security. Many people will cr...

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In Depth: How to keep people on your website

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//Review%20images/Net%20features/207/NET207.f_sticky.illo_flat-200-200.jpg"><br /><P>Today's consumers have more choice than ever, especially online. Competing attractions are just a click away, so it's vital to engage your audience's attention and give them a reason to stay on your site – and want to come back to it again and again. </P><br /><P>This elusive component of web design is often referred to as 'stickiness'. Stickiness is important for various reasons. </P><br /><P>"Getting a user to return frequently is more cost-effective than trying to convince new users to come to a site," points out <a href="http://www.pod1.com/">Pod1</A> ecommerce strategist David Hefendehl. Once users are engaged, "adopters will help you to spread the word and promote your site," adds <a href="http://abduzeedo.com/">Abduzeedo</A> founder and designer Fabio Sasso. </P><br /><P>The right kind of sticky It's critical that stickiness stems from positive user experience, leading to loyalty and users not wanting to leave. "When designing, never think of literally getting people stuck," says <a href="http://www.cxpartners.co.uk/">cxpartners</A> principal consultant James Chudley.</P><br /><P>"I've heard of nasty UX where important information has been made deliberately hard to locate, 'trapping' users. Instead, focus on users' needs and serve them well. As a result, you'll get the kind of 'stickiness' you want." </P><br /><P>Also be careful who you use the phrase 'stickiness' around, adds <a href="http://www.digitaria.com/">Digitaria</A> senior web analyst Dexter Bustarde. "It's a popular web industry term but it carries a natural negative connotation to most outside the industry," he points out. </P><br /><P>When talking to clients who don't themselves bring up the phrase 'stickiness', Bustarde suggests using the term 'essential' instead. "Having an 'essential' site is aspirational, while still capturing everything web developers and marketers think of when using the term 'sticky'." </P><br /><P><STRONG>First impressions</STRONG></P><br /><P>Design is integral to a site's stickiness. "People react to gut instinct," Chudley says. "If a site doesn't look professionally designed, they won't stick around – particularly if they're looking to buy something." </P><br /><P>Bluhalo's marketing and business development manager Jocelyn Kirby concurs. "Looks matter," she says. "First impressions count. Before contemplating a return visit, a user must engage with a website." In providing a user with what they're looking for, in a usable format that looks good, you're partway towards achieving stickiness. </P><br /><P>The ideal is to not make people think. "Optimise a site's design to deliver the most intuitive user experience, and deliver the desired end result to the user with little effort," continues Kirby. "This contributes to the likelihood of the user returning." </P><br /><P>Of course, good first impressions are just the starting point: you have to make them last. A strong design is one that doesn't just look pretty but guides users and encourages them to interact or share. </P><br /><P>"Visuals and branding are important, but what's important is how those visuals and branding are integrated with the structure underneath the surface layer," says Bustarde. "You can have a gorgeous looking layout, but it has to work. If a visitor clicks on what looks like a compelling button but it doesn't really do anything, you've hurt yourself twice: you've presented something that feels broken and discouraging, and you've missed out on the opportunity that was created with your great visual cue." </P><br /><P><STRONG>Style and substance </STRONG></P><br /><P>Underpinning visuals and structure is content, arguably the most important single component when it comes to stickiness. To get repeat visits <a href="http://bkwld.com/">BKWLD</A>'s director of interactive production Dan Fields suggests "putting what's most useful and compelling in the most logical, strategic position". </P><br /><P>Fields points out that once a 'visual language' is created and a user knows where to find sticky content, it's easy to train them to find it, helping to ensure they'll stick around. In the fight for eyes and hits, video is definitely worth considering. </P><br /><P>"We're constantly visually stimulated, and video often achieves engagement where text and imagery cannot," says Kirby. "Regularly updated videos maximise repeat visits from people looking for new content. </P><br /><P>"Since video hasn't seen the amount of contribution text content has, early, enthusiastic adopters will reap the benefits in natural search rankings, given the relatively low amount of existing competition compared to blogs and websites." </P><br /><P>However, video by its nature takes time to consume, and so Chudley warns that it "should be of a duration commensurate with the nature of what's being conveyed," adding that he recently saw a 25-minute video for a web service that should have been a quickfire elevator pitch. The result: zero stickiness. </P><br /><P><STRONG>Social engagement </STRONG></P><br /><P>Compelling content within a strong, usable design will guarantee some stickiness, then. But the relentless march of Facebook and Amazon suggests that reactive design is increasingly important. </P><br /><P><img alt="Amazon" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/Net%20features/207/NET207.f_sticky.c_amazon-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG></P><br /><P>Sites that react to users' needs can result in longer session times and encourage return visits. Customisation involves a personal investment on behalf of the user, and when someone has given time to a site, they're more likely to become loyal. </P><br /><P>"The method to choose depends on your site and audience," says Sasso. "If you can automatically provide reactive design, that's often better than making users customise things themselves, because that comes with a learning curve."</P><br /><P>With Facebook having trained people to click on 'like' buttons, a low level of active participation should be fine for most sites to increase stickiness. </P><br /><P><STRONG>We Love copywriter </STRONG></P><br /><P>Melissa Bennett suggests this will soon become commonplace. "Facebook plugins vary from enabling users to 'like' or recommend things to allowing users to make comments and show profile pictures of friends who've already signed up – they're essentially letting brands encourage users to explore more," she says. </P><br /><P>"And what I see when looking at a site with a Facebook login will be different to what a friend sees. In the future, sites will be completely relevant to individual users. This will make them extremely sticky: by making content relevant and contextual, catering to what we want to see, a site will create loyalty." </P><br /><P>However, Bustarde warns that anyone focusing on a similar kind of targeted content must "avoid the creepy sensation that comes with seeming to know too much about your visitors" – a problem Facebook's arguably having to deal with. </P><br /><P>Other means of social engagement can also enhance stickiness. Hefendehl cites Gurgle.com, the Mothercare-backed community for first-time parents. "It's run as a non-direct sales channel," he explains. "By identifying a need for a core target market, the site offers sticky content in the form of help for parents." </P><br /><P>Others tap into existing networks such as Flickr, YouTube and Twitter. "These are all great tools to achieve extra stickiness," says Jonathan Smiley of design company ZURB. "People come from these sites and spend incredible amounts of time on ZURB.com. Why? Because they want to learn more after viewing one of our videos or reading our tweets." </P><br /><P>The important thing is to ensure the sense of community always remains – poor management of social media can harm perception of a brand, which can wreck stickiness. With communities in place and visitors returning, it's useful to examine additional outreach possibilities, although Hefendehl says to be mindful that most people aren't techies.</P><br /><P>"RSS readers are good to push content out, but are limited to a very small percentage of people who use them and understand what they do. Newsletters and email marketing are more effective tools to get users back to your site. A carefully planned email strategy will pay for itself in no time." </P><br /><P>Even better, he says, is to find a way to enable user-generated content: "Everyone loves seeing their content published or their comments picked up by a website's owner." </P><br /><P>Getting the design and content right are key when making your site sticky, but so too are technical factors. If your site is slow to load, users might not even bother waiting, no matter how much amazing content it contains. </P><br /><P>Assuming this hurdle is overcome, ongoing speed must be maintained to hold a user's interest. "The longer people stay, the more engaged they'll become, ultimately increasing the chance of their desire to return," says <a href="http://bluhalo.com/">Bluhalo</A>'s Steve Clarke. </P><br /><P><STRONG>Strike a balance </STRONG></P><br /><P>But remember that web design is a balancing act – don't get spooked and rip out or oversimplify your content in the name of stickiness. "People are willing to wait for something, within reason," points out Bustarde. </P><br /><P>"For instance, most people don't mind that Netflix's online movie player takes a minute to load, because they're expecting to be with the site for hours." However, at the other extreme, the same wait for 30 seconds of content would be a poor experience. </P><br /><P>Fields also recommends that designers resist temptation to shove 'sticky' hooks above the fold. "Thanks to long scrolling sites such as Facebook, people are no longer afraid to scroll," he says. "Sometimes, telling a story and creating pacing on a page is good. Just as stories have conflict, climax and resolution, why shouldn't a website sometimes use that same convention?" </P><br /><P><img alt="Facebook" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/Net%20features/207/NET207.f_sticky.c_facebook-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG></P><br /><P>One shouldn't underestimate users, argues Fields, and warns against confusing a short attention span with the notion that users don't want content. "The important thing is to ensure that content throughout your sites is of a high quality – that, ultimately, ensures users will be willing to wait, engage and return. Speed and pacing are especially important for mobile sites, although 'sticky' in the mobile domain rarely equates to 'more time' – instead, less is more in this space. </P><br /><P>"Keep things simple," recommends <a href="http://www.codecomputerlove.com/">Code Computerlove</A> founder Louis Georgiou. "Have content targeted for the device it's consumed on, remove noise and visual clutter, keep options relevant and obvious, and make things light and quick," he says. </P><br /><P>Hefendehl agrees, suggesting sites offering quick access to important information to ensure return visits. "A bad example is Transport for London's site, which loads too much content when accessed via a smartphone," he says. "By contrast, National Rail offers exactly what you need on the go, allowing easy access to train times and destinations." </P><br /><P><img alt="Apps" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/Net%20features/207/NET207.f_sticky.c_apps-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG></P><br /><P>Whether on the desktop or mobile, fast sites demonstrably lead to increased stickiness, which can in turn increase revenue. ZURB's Bryan Zmijewski explains that the agency has seen revenue bumps on ecommerce sites of up to 30 per cent simply by making pages load faster. </P><br /><P><STRONG>Speed testing </STRONG></P><br /><P>Objectively measuring a site's speed is fairly simple, thanks to modern tools. Clarke recommends Firebug, which "provides a list of how long each element takes to load, helping to identify those causing delays and enabling you to focus on improving specific content load times." </P><br /><P>Hosting provision also plays an important role in delivering good speeds. "Load testing will give you an idea of the capacity of your servers," he says. "A poor result indicates that the server needs to be optimised or that additional server capacity is needed." </P><br /><P>Sometimes, this can pay rapid dividends. For example, Hefendehl explains how Pod1 upped the number of UNIQLO UK servers for Christmas, to cope with increased demand, and the resulting site speed bump helped conversion rates rise by 50 per cent. Unsurprisingly, UNIQLO subsequently decided to retain this server setup.</P><br /><P><img alt="Uniqlo" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/Net%20features/207/NET207.f_sticky.c_uniqlo-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG></P><br /><P>Unfortunately, measuring how site speed affects visitor engagement isn't always as straightforward. "Many analytics tools recommend placing code at the bottom of a page, but on slow sites the tool may miss the fact someone's even visited," says Bustarde. </P><br /><P>"For sites you know are going to have a relatively long load time, one possibility is to let your analytics tool track when a visitor first arrives and then treat their first action on the site as a sort of mini conversion." </P><br /><P>Hefendehl also argues that measuring a site's stickiness differs depending on its business objectives. "It could be time on site; it could be returning visitors per campaign; it could be number of transactions; it could be cost per acquisition," he suggests. "There's no general rule for measuring this." </P><br /><P>To that end, don't be too reliant on time-based feedback alone: in fact, says Chudley, doing so can be dangerous. "You can get a skewed impression of site success," he points out. "A client once delighted in telling me that user visits averaged over 20 minutes. In reality, his service should have led to short visits but the site was hard to use and people were getting stuck…" </P><br /><P><img alt="Speedy website" src="http://mos.futurenet.com/techradar/Review%20images/Net%20features/207/NET207.f_sticky.c_speedy_website-420-90.jpg" width="420"></IMG></P><br /><P>Ideally, look for a range of indicators when judging the stickiness of a website, and make them relevant to the site. If the site is designed to offer quickfire information, look for short visits with people returning regularly. If the site aims to keep people engrossed for hours, ensure that's what's happening. </P><br /><P>If you're providing interesting content for people to grab, the tracking of downloaded files in tandem with return visits and growth might be enough to indicate a site's success regarding stickiness.</P><br /><P>"This will all change from site to site, but should detail whether visitors are doing what you expect," says Bustarde. Having stickiness as your overriding goal requires the strategy of proving value. </P><br /><P>In the end, what some visitors find useless and trite, others will find essential. It's your job as a designer to aim the right content at the intended audience – and to ensure that everything sticks.</P>

In Depth: How to keep people on your website

In Depth: How to keep people on your website

Today's consumers have more choice than ever, especially online. Competing attractions are just a click away, so it's vital to engag...

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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

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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Secure Your Website From Hackers - Know How to Prevent Them From Destroying Your Site

<br />		<p>The virtual world is a complex world where there is an exchange and sharing of information, data, important records, business transactions, selling and buying activities, and exchange of stories and thoughts. If you have a website, for sure you want to secure your website from hackers especially if it involves important financial or confidential information.</p><p>Malicious attacks on government sites, bank websites, social network sites, your online store and even your online journal do exist and this indeed is a big headache for website owners and maintainers. Making your site secured and protected from these attacks, helps a lot in saving money and effort in making your website up and running again after an attack, and of course, it is important also to be trustworthy to your online customers.</p><p>To help secure your website from hackers and make it your top priority, here are some few tips and suggestions on how you can make your site safe from hackers.</p><p>* Make your passwords safe. This does not only mean keeping your passwords unknown to many people but also making sure you have a password that is not obvious and not easy to guess. Alphanumeric and long passwords are often recommended to secure your website. If there is a need to share a password to another person in the team, then you must make sure he is trustworthy.</p><p>* Don't ignore anti-virus protection and make sure it is up-to-date. Make sure you are free from virus and other forms of malicious attacks that will allow hackers to take control of your system. Find a good anti-virus software that can help drive away hackers.</p><p>* Fend off hacking by activating your firewall. Set your firewall properly so it can fully function in preventing hackers from accessing your files. Configure your firewall according to your protection needs.</p><p>* Safeguard your server. Keeping your server safe is another thing you need to safeguard. Hackers can also attack your server through malware and viruses that can cripple the smooth operation of your website. Set the right security to your server and make sure you also restrict access to your server.</p><p>* Test your website against malicious attacks and hacking. One way to secure your website is to check the vulnerability of your website by conducting an attack test. This will help you find the weak points of your system and allow you to find solutions to protect these possible entry points to make your system and website secured from hackers.</p><p>* Make your network safe physically as well. Of course, aside from making sure that your website is not vulnerable to attacks online, you have to make sure also that your system is safe from intruders who can access your system right in your office.</p><p>Keep in mind these simple ways on how to secure your website from hackers and malicious attacks and you will enjoy a smooth-running and trusted website that caters to the needs of your online visitors.</p>	<br />	<br />		<br />			<br />				<br />					<br /><br />						<p>Carolyn Anderson makes sure that her websites and blogs are secured to make them trustworthy for clients and online readers. If you are a Wordpress blog owner, and you want to make it secure from hackers, check out <a href="http://www.dp-db.com/blog-lock-down" target="_new">Blog Lock Down</a>. Also check out <a href="http://www.dp-db.com/instant-blog-submitter" target="_new">Instant Blog Submitter</a>, a fast way to make your blog updated always.</p>					<br />

Secure Your Website From Hackers - Know How to Prevent Them From Destroying Your Site

Secure Your Website From Hackers - Know How to Prevent Them From Destroying Your Site

The virtual world is a complex world where there is an exchange and sharing of information, data, important records, business transaction...

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Wikileaks website pushed off Amazon's cloud

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/Wikileaks_3-200-200.jpg"> <br /><P>Wikileaks has been removed from Amazon's cloud computing servers, following the latest batch of high-profile leaks of US diplomatic messages.</P><br /><P>However, the move will not affect the online distribution of the diplomatic cable files, which are now being shared via Bittorrent.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Cablegate concerns</STRONG></P><br /><P>Wikileaks so-called<a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/wikileaks-sparks-diplomatic-crisis-after-250-000-docs-leak-911452"> "cablegate" file </A>containing the leaked diplomatic files is already being widely distributed via Bittorrent, being shared by thousands of users directly online.</P><br /><P>Wikileaks is moving its hosting back to the Bahnhof ISP in Sweden, according to DNS checking. </P><br /><P>WikiLeaks confirmed the move from Amazon's server on <a href="https://twitter.com/wikileaks">its Twitter feed</A> this week.</P><br /><P>"WikiLeaks servers at Amazon ousted," read the post. "Free speech the land of the free--fine our $ are now spent to employ people in Europe." </P><br /><P>Another Twitter message from WikiLeaks read: "If Amazon are so uncomfortable with the first amendment, they should get out of the business of selling books."</P><br /><P>U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman said of Amazon's move: "I wish that Amazon had taken this action earlier based on WikiLeaks' previous publication of classified material. </P><br /><P>"The company's decision to cut off WikiLeaks now is the right decision and should set the standard for other companies WikiLeaks is using to distribute its illegally seized material."</P><br /><P>Wikileaks now appears to be <a href="http://wikileaks.org/">back online</A> </P>

Wikileaks website pushed off Amazon's cloud

Wikileaks website pushed off Amazon's cloud

Wikileaks has been removed from Amazon's cloud computing servers, following the latest batch of high-profile leaks of US diplomatic mes...

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Protecting Your Website - Making Sure Your Website is Secure

<br />		<p>In my opinion, you can never be 100% secure, and any site that claims to be is either lying or has spent thousands of pounds on security measures that the majority of us can not afford. But you can make sure you are as secure as you can possibly be by implementing a few security measures, and these are described below.</p><p><strong>Virus Protection</strong> - Security starts at home, and by this I mean make sure you are running a first class security suite on your home pc's and laptops. I use Mcafee, but there are others including AVG and Norton, but just make sure you use a well recommended internet security suite which if you do get infected, will help protect and fix any problems. Also download Malwarebytes and run this on a periodic basis. The latest Virus programs can now also fix infected webpages, meaning you can save hours by letting them fix the issues should your site get infected.</p><p><strong>FTP Passwords</strong> - Every week, change your FTP password. Yes, this is a pain and you probably won't do it, but it can be the one thing that stops your site from being hacked. Some of the latest viruses steal FTP passwords from your pc and then send them to the bad world, so by changing the password periodically, even if they do steal your data, it will be another layer in protection for you.</p><p><strong>Security Patches</strong> - Make sure your computer is patched. Many of the Trojans and exploits are coming through on un-patched or older systems. Make sure you allow Windows to update when it needs to and just to be on the safe side, check for updates once a week, even if you have it on automatic.</p><p><strong>Server Patches</strong> - Most of us use web hosting, but you can still make sure that your host is doing everything they can. Drop them and email or give them a ring and ask them how often they implement patches etc and what their security methods are. It is sometimes worth paying a bit more to make sure your host is doing as much as you are to protect your site and business.</p><p><strong>Server File Permissions</strong> - Imagine having a nice big house with a massive stone wall all the way around the building, with 50 gates for people to get in to your house with. 45 of those gates are locked, but the other 5 are open, and is therefore creating an opportunity for some one to get in. File permissions are a little bit like these gates. If you leave some of them open, there is a good chance someone will cease on this and get access to your website via permissions that have been set incorrectly. They can be quite hard to understand, so have a chat with your host or web guy to make sure your permissions are correct and above all else, secure.</p><p><strong>Google Webmaster</strong> - Make sure you have a Google webmaster account linked to your website. Should you be hacked, Google will send you an email to tell you this and also which pages have been hit. This is such a valuable and free tool, admittedly more a cure rather than prevention, but as Google updates pages every hour of the day, they can sometimes be the first to notice your site has a problem.</p><p><strong>Website Patches</strong> - If you are using WordPress, always make sure you are running the latest version of the main WordPress software and also upgrade your plugins when you are told to do so. WordPress updates itself with new patches and upgrades periodically and this is the same for the plugins. Many of the latest hacks are targeting WordPress, and you can help to avoid this if you run the latest version and your plugins are up to date.</p><p><strong>Software Patches </strong>- We have had clients who got infected via a PDF virus which then infected his website. They couldn't understand why this had happened, or how it was even possible. This was until we explained that they were running Adobe Reader that was 3 years old and had kept refusing the automatic updates! Always make sure you allow your software to install the latest updates, as many of the latest viruses will use any software going to try and access your pc.</p>	<br />	<br />		<br />			<br />				<br />					<br /><br />						<p>Ian Spencer works for Clear Web Services, a SEO Web Optimisation and Web Design company serving the Forest Of Dean, Gloucestershire and South Wales.</p><p>He has worked in the SEO and Internet Marketing world for many years, and working in partnership with another company has launched the new SEO business.</p><p><a href="http://clearwebservices.com/" target="_new">http://clearwebservices.com/</a> For More Information, please call 01594 835 857 or email <a href="mailto:info@clearwebservices.com">info@clearwebservices.com</a></p>					<br />

Protecting Your Website - Making Sure Your Website is Secure

Protecting Your Website - Making Sure Your Website is Secure

In my opinion, you can never be 100% secure, and any site that claims to be is either lying or has spent thousands of pounds on security ...

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Update: Australian government takes Wikileaks off banned website list

<img src="http://cdn.mos.techradar.com//classifications/computing/internet-and-broadband/images/internet-generic-200-200.jpg"><br /><P><STRONG>UPDATE</STRONG></P><br /><P>Back in May 2009, the Australian government put Wikileaks on its banned list. </P><br /><P>As of 29 November and <a href="http://www.zdnet.com.au/wikileaks-removed-from-acma-blacklist-339307604.htm?feed=rss&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter">according to ZDnet</A>, this is no longer the case.</P><br /><P>"Currently, the ACMA list of prohibited URLs that is notified to accredited filter providers does not contain any URLs within the Wikileaks website," said the ACMA. </P><br /><P>"Since April 2010, the ACMA has investigated two complaints about specific pages of content on the Wikileaks website, which both resolved to content found to be not prohibited."</P><br /><P>Wikileaks <a href="http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/wikileaks-hacked-prior-to-latest-diplomatic-leaks-911423">hit the front pages</A> this month, with a new release of government documents that show the inside goings-on of diplomacy in the US.</P><br /><P>In the dosuments our very own Prince Andrew is namechecked, as is the governor of the Bank of England Mervyn King.</P><br /><P><STRONG>ORIGINAL STORY</STRONG></P><br /><P>The Australian communications regulator has issued a stark warning that websites who link out to 'banned' hyperlinks are liable to fines of up to Aus $11,000 a day. </P><br /><P>The news comes after web forum Whirlpool was threatened with the fine for posting a hyperlink to a blacklisted anti-abortion website</P><br /><P><STRONG>Wikileaks blacklisted</STRONG></P><br /><P>One of the newest additions to Australia's 'blacklisted hyperlinks' list is Wikileaks; the website that publishes anonymous submissions of sensitive info on everything from corporations, religion and governments.</P><br /><P>The blacklisting of certain pages of the site has come about after Wikileaks posted a list of websites at the tail end of 2008 that comprised the 'secret internet censorship' list for Denmark. On this list were over 3,500 sites that were censored or banned in the country.</P><br /><P><STRONG>Disturbing picture</STRONG></P><br /><P>While Australia's list of blacklisted sites currently stands at 1,370, the <EM>Sydney Morning Herald</EM> is reporting that that list could increase to around 10,000 sites – most of which are of illegal pornographic content, but could also includes sites that house incendiary political discussions.</P><br /><P>"The Government is embarking on a deeply unpopular and troubling experiment to fine-tune its ability to censor the internet," said communications spokesman Senator Scott Ludlam of Australian opposition party Greens.</P><br /><P>"If you consider this kind of net censorship in the context of Australia's anti-terror laws, it paints a disturbing picture indeed."</P><br /><P>On its website, <a href="http://www.wikileaks.org/wiki/Australia_secretly_censors_Wikileaks_press_release_and_Danish_Internet_censorship_list,_16_Mar_2009">Wikileaks</A>, which leaked the news that the government had banned it for leaking information, simply said: "The first rule of censorship is that you cannot talk about censorship."</P><br /><P>Currently, it is not illegal for internet users in Australia to click on the sites found on the web blacklist. The people targeted by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) are webmasters linking out to the sites that the government have flagged up as inappropriate.</P><br /><P>This could all change, however, if a mandatory internet filtering censorship scheme is implemented – something that is being debated at the moment.</P>

Update: Australian government takes Wikileaks off banned website list

Update: Australian government takes Wikileaks off banned website list

UPDATE Back in May 2009, the Australian government put Wikileaks on its banned list. As of 29 November and according to ZDnet , this is no l...

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Website Hosting

<br />		<p>Ecommerce websites require database facilities, the ability to run applications, and provide encryption of data in transit. There are various options to choose from a web host when it comes to these factors and these include the type of database that is required and the type of programming language that will be used to make the webpage perform necessary ecommerce tasks such as order processing.</p><p>Dynamic webpages are not static in that they are generated in real time to display 'dynamic' content that may be based on user input or results from a database engine, and can also store data such as shopping cart details in memory while the customer is browsing the online shop website. The main types of languages used to create dynamic ecommerce web sites are as follows...</p><p><br /><br /><b>Active Server Pages</b> which is proprietary to Microsoft, is used with the IIS web server which is also proprietary to Microsoft and comes pre-bundled into the Windows operating system. However, it is not recommended due to the fact that its proprietary nature makes its difficult to port from one server to another and you may be more susceptible to viruses and hacking attempts.<br />    <br /><b>CGI or Common Gateway Interface</b> is used to allow a web server to pass data to and get results from an external compiled standalone program that is stored in the cgi-bin directory and usually  written in C, C++ or Visual Basic. Because the external program has to be run for every request made to a page served by a CGI program (.cgi ) it imposes higher workload and server overhead than newer scripting technologies like PHP. Also, because CGI allows ordinary programs to be run within the server system, it opens the possibility of security breaches. Since such programs are usually compiled, it means that the programmer also has to perform compilation during debugging which can also take up more time than scripting languages like PHP.<br />    <br /><b>Perl or Practical Extraction and Report Language</b> was the main dynamic programming language used in ecommerce websites before the release of PHP and ASP. Its strengths lies in text manipulation which lends it well to use with database applications where it makes it easy to write SQL queries and process returned results. It has a reputation as being an untidy language that is difficult to debug, however it is still widely used to write CGI programs because it does not require compilation. The lack of compilation means that its speed is similar to PHP and ASP and slower than C or C++.<br />    <br /><b>PHP or Hypertext Preprocessor </b>is a relatively new server side scripting language that was created to address the various issues with CGI in creating complex dynamic websites. It is object oriented which is an important adjunct to maintainability in complex software systems. PHP is usually used with Linux, Apache and MySQL which is a popular configuration amongst ecommerce designers due to its comparative reliability and security. Extensions can still be written in C to improve PHP's functionality on par with CGI.<br /></p><p>Dynamic ecommerce websites typically also require a database engine with which to store an manipulate product and customer data. The main types of databases used in ecommerce software include...</p><p><br /><br /><b>MySQL </b>is a database management system with a Structured Query Language interface that is popular with dynamic websites because it is compatible with all popular programming languages including PHP and runs on many different platforms including those popular with web hosting such as Linux based and Windows based platforms and Solaris. It can handle multiple users and process large amounts of queries.<br />    <br /><b>PostgreSQL</b> is a popular alternative to MySQL that, unlike mysql, supports triggers for validation checks, multi version concurrency control that removes the need for read locks in multi user environments, and enforcement of referential integrity.<br />    <br /><b>Microsoft SQL Server</b> is a proprietary database whose advantage is that it can support database clustering in order to distribute workload. Unfortunately Microsoft products are more susceptible to viruses and Microsoft SQL Server was infamously attacked by the Slammer Worm which continues to affect many unpatched ecommerce sites today.<br /></p><p>There are two main types of web servers used in hosting....</p><p><br /><br /><b>Apache</b> is an HTTP server that serves most websites and is a popular adjunct to PHP and MySQL in what is known as the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) architecture of serving webpages on the internet. It is strong in areas of performance, reliability and security compared with Microsoft servers and it supports 301 redirects via .htaccess files which is important for Search Engine Optimisation when pages may move from one location to another without losing pagerank.<br />    <br /><b>Microsoft IIS or Internet Information services</b> is a proprietary web server that is usually used with sites that require ASP programming or Microsoft SQL Server functionality. It has been hit with a number of high profile security exploits such as the Code Red Worm. However, cheap web hosting generally use IIS.<br /></p>	<br />	<br />		<br />			<br />				<br />					<br /><br />						<p><a href="http://www.b-1st.com/blog/hosting-websites.htm" target="_new">http://www.b-1st.com/blog/hosting-websites.htm</a></p>					<br />

Website Hosting

Website Hosting

Ecommerce websites require database facilities, the ability to run applications, and provide encryption of data in transit. There are var...

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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

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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Tips For Protecting Your Website Investment

<br />		<p>With the internet being extensively used today in every walk of life, security issues have risen in prominence. Advances in technology have been used both positively and negatively to enhance websites and businesses as well as to destroy them. Negative impact of technology can be seen from the constantly increasing cases of hacking websites or of malware attacks that are being reported. While it is not possible to secure your website completely from such attacks, there are several steps, which as a website owner you should take, to secure your website investment. Following are some of the basic tips, which if followed, will help you to protect your website from malicious hackers and attacks:</p><p><br /><strong>Virus protection: </strong>Good virus protection is essential for ensuring complete security of your website. This can be achieved by installing a good anti-virus program on your PC, so that it will help prevent virus attacks on your website. It is important that you choose an anti-virus program that also deals with problems related to malware.<br /> <strong>Selection of alpha-numeric passwords: </strong>Secondly, it is important to keep changing or modifying your FTP password. While this could be a pretty mundane yet irritating task for many, doing so will definitely ensure complete safety to your website. It is essential to note that your passwords should be as long as you are allowed and should contain a healthy mix of numbers and alphabets, mixed properly. Never use common dates like that of birthdays, anniversaries or names while setting your passwords as these can be easily hacked. It is important to protect your databases with passwords in a similar manner. However, if you are still unsure of how to do it, you can enlist the services of an ethical hacker to help you find the vulnerabilities in your website and overcome them.<br /> <strong>Using proper security patches: </strong>The next step is to ensure that you are up to date with your security patches as the lack of these will cause Trojans and other similar viruses to enter through these gaps. When using web hosting packages to host your website, it is important that you ensure that the hosting company is diligent in ensuring that the server patches are up to date. It is important that you download and install the latest patches that are available with regard to websites and software that you are using. Failing to use the current patches will only result in your website and system becoming vulnerable to malicious virus attacks as some viruses can easily pass through existing software and require newer patches to stop them.<br /> <strong>Be judicious with your file server permissions: </strong>File server permissions should be set in such a way that you do not allow indiscriminate entry to your website and are aware of what is being uploaded or downloaded or even simply accessed. Like your home, it is important that you guard the gates of your website, especially if you do not want unsolicited entry that may harm to your website.<br /> <strong>Use Google webmaster: </strong>Linking with the Google webmaster account will help you learn about any hacking attempt immediately, which in turn will assist in determining the future action in case of any problem. This is freely available and helps you deal with your hacking problem without losing any time.<br /> <strong>Take regular back-ups:</strong> Last but not the least, you should always ensure that you regularly take back-ups of your material, either manually or with the help of your web hosting company. Taking regular back-ups of your information and website is essential as this allows you to easily restore the site without any hassle in case of any malicious attack that leads to complete loss of information.<br /></p><p>So, use these steps to protect your website investment.</p>	<br />	<br />		<br />			<br />				<br />					<br /><br />						<p>Try <a href="http://www.studio1c.com/" target="_new">Studio 1C</a>.</p>					<br />

Tips For Protecting Your Website Investment

Tips For Protecting Your Website Investment

With the internet being extensively used today in every walk of life, security issues have risen in prominence. Advances in technology ha...

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