web hosting

VeriSign Passes a Tremendous Milestone

Security is one issue that is on the mind of millions of website owners throughout the world.  It’s good to know that more people are paying attention to the risks and have taken the steps needed to secure their sites.  Earlier this year, VeriSign Inc., the leading online security and infrastructure company, reached a tremendous milestone with more than one million current SSL certificates.  Deployment of the one millionth active SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate attributes to the solid security used by well over 90% of today’s Fortune 500 Companies and some of the largest banks in the world.

Chris Babel, senior vice president at VeriSign, notes that consumers need a greater level of assurance that the sites they visit online are safe to do business with.  The milestone of one million active SSL certificates demonstrates the firm’s presence in the industry.  Babel went on to state that VeriSign will continue to collaborate with its industry peers and help customers find most secure places for making purchases online.   Already responsible for securing more servers than any other internet security company, the VeriSign Secured Seal has become the most trusted of all on the web.

SSL certificates issued by VeriSign include VeriSign, GeoTrust and Thawte, all of which help to safeguard consumers against fraudulent websites by providing and validating information about the owner of the certificate. Consumers can learn the identity of the person they are dealing with and if the certificate holder is the legal owner of the domain name.  Most of all, these SSL certificates encrypt the customer’s personal information during internet transactions.   When a consumer visits a site equipped with such a certificate, their browser will display a padlock icon as well as HTTPS in the address bar.  This enables visitors to browse a web page with a greater level of confidence, helping them to feel comfortable about dealing with a legitimate site.

The most widely recognized of all, the VeriSign Secured Seal gives indication that a particular web page is protected with a brand of SSL certificate issued by VeriSign itself.  Throughout the world, this seal represents trust and security, one that has become a common fixture to validate leading online merchants, financial institutions and other prominent businesses on the internet.

A recent study conducted by TNS Research shows that 79% of online shoppers in the United States are familiar with VeriSign’s Secured Seal, trusting it more than other mark on the internet.  This seal is viewed well over 150 million time each day, thoroughly tested and proven to help boost online transactions by as much as 31%.  The study also reveals that the VeriSign Secured Seal can be found on more than 90,000 sites in over 140 countries across the globe.

Since the late 90s, VeriSign has been providing services for a reliable internet infrastructure to secure the huge world of networked computers.  Countless of times each day, its trusted SSL certificates and recognizable seals help businesses and consumers from worlds apart engage in secure E-commerce transactions with the utmost confidence.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Posted on Friday, Nov 21 in Security Issues
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: GeoTrust, HTTPS, secure server, security, SSL, ssl certificate, Thawte, VeriSign

Staggering Numbers on Website Vulnerabilities

According to a recent study by Scott + Scott, a law firm based in Connecticut, 85% of businesses in the U.S. have experienced some sort of data breach, a factor that places the personal information of millions of consumers at great risk.  To no surprise, most of the companies involved in the study were exploited over the web with the leading cause being insecure servers and applications.  These vulnerabilities are what result in the lost of bank account numbers, credit card details and Social Security numbers while putting billions of dollars in jeopardy. Although there are various security mechanisms available to limit these exploits, the typical components such as firewalls and intrusions detection systems simply aren’t enough.

Intruders are just as aware of the critical information that can be accessed through an application as the webmaster.  In many cases, their entrance and overall success is attributed to numerous factors.  Those conscious of the roaming threats typically monitor network perimeters with firewalls and intrusion detection systems.  However, these components actually encourage exploits as they are required to keep ports 80 and 443 open to support SSL and protect online transactions.  To an intruder, these ports are open doors that enable website attacks in a number of different ways.  Most network firewalls are configured to secure only the internal perimeter, leaving the company open to a wide range of attacks.  And while both intrusion prevention and detection systems are somewhat more effective, they don’t perform complete analysis of a packet’s contents.  Without an additional layer of security, a knowledgeable intruder can penetrate a web application with relative ease.

An organization dedicated to improving the security of web-based applications, the OWASP (Open Web Application Security Project) recently composed a list of 10 of the most common vulnerabilities in today’s applications.  The potential threats are associated with the following:

1. Cross site scripting

2. Server-side scripting errors

3. The execution of malicious code

4. Insecure direct object reference

5. Cross site request forgery

6. Improper error handling and data leakage

7. Penetration of authentication and session management

8. Vulnerable cryptographic storage

9. Insecure web communications

10. Failure to restrict write permissions and URL access

The WASC Web Application Security Consortium have validated the OWASP’s top five application vulnerabilities with the testing of 31,373 sites.  Additionally, the Gartner Group reports that 97% of more than 300 sites studied in a survey were found to be vulnerable to application attacks.  The same study also revealed that 75% of today’s web attacks occur at the application level.

The numbers indicate that most E-commerce sites are easy targets for an array of attacks.  While proper coding is the key to prevention, one of the best methods of defense against application exploits is a web application scanner.   This type of mechanism protects both applications and servers from intruders by crawling through the site and analyzing every piece of content.  Such products conduct various tests along with simulated application attacks throughout the scanning process.  If genuine security holes are detected, reports are made and detail the severity of each vulnerability.  Security experts recommend using a scanner that offers a technical, in depth explanation of each vulnerability detected along with appropriate suggestions for eradicating them.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Posted on Thursday, Nov 20 in Security Issues
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: application security, data breach, exploits, firewall, online transactions, OWSAP, SSL, vulnerability

Should You Outsource SEM?

Search engine marketing and search engine optimization both require a bit of skill and a lot of effort.  Although succeeding at these techniques begins with website design, an experienced developer isn’t always the best person for the job.  With the steep costs charged by SEM firms, several businesses have resorted to outsourcing these efforts to save money and get better results.

Skills Needed

In order to determine if SEM should be cultivated in-house or outsourced, one must first understand the skills required for such as task.  When it comes to effective marketing, these skills are generally divided in the following categories.

Linguistic Aptitude: For the most part, SEM is a linguistic strategy that calls for the matching of the language used by web surfers as well as the language on your website and how it is interpreted by the search engines.  Because some of the most skilled web designers often used highly technical terms, many of them are not able to clearly present content to the visitor.

Research: Accepting the fact that you don’t know something and taking the initiative to learn is a key to effective SEM.  Extensive research will enable you to find out what keywords your niche market is using, how a search engine handles JavaScript, how Flash can be incorporated into an SEO campaign and much more.  When combined with a good knowledge of marketing, sound research can help you find all the answers you need to the burning questions of SEM.

Technical Experience: The more experience one has with web technologies, the better they will be at SEM.  This comes in handy when working with campaigns such as AdWords and Overture as search engines have a different system for the links used in these programs.  Additionally, someone with an understanding of the web should have knowledge on what type of URLs and redirects are SEO-friendly.    

SEM Experience: Although it goes without saying, the more experience SEM expert has, the more qualified they are for the job.  Don’t be fooled by someone that simply has a site or two under their belts.  Get definitive proof on a person’s SEM background before investing into their claim.  This can be done by obtaining WebPosition reports and server stats for the sites they have worked on.

Conclusion

There is so much that needs to be considered in terms of in-house or outsourced SEM activities, especially when the campaign involves more than keywords and link popularity.  You need to think about costs, turn around time, the firm’s experience and much more.  One way to make this determination is to hire an experienced SEM vendor to provide some insight.  A reputable vendor should be able to evaluate your ROI potential in the investment of an SEM venture.  This will give you a few ideas on how to improve the design of your website and optimize search engine traffic conversions.  Because such a move can help you decide on what an SEM investment is worth, it also works wonders on the decision of whether to outsource the operation.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 19 in SEO / SEM
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: outsourced SEM, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, SEM, seo, website design

cPanel for VPS Hosting

VPS hosting has taken off over the last few years and with its popularity stems greater demands.  In this environment, the average management tools usually do not cut it, rather this only present a new level of complexity.  One critical area providers can’t afford to slack in is the control panel. And with more people moving up to VPS hosting, it is no surprise that the leading control panel software would step up to meet the challenge.

A new version of cPanel was released earlier this year, a product specifically designed for the VPS platform.  Aptly named as cPanel VPS Optimized, this version comes with numerous improvements, optimized to consume a minimal amount of memory when the program is idle and not in use.  The new control panel offers many of the features you will find on the standard cPanel but is finely tuned for VPS hosting.  This optimization allows web hosting companies and end-users to comfortably host multiple domains per server as more memory will be available.

There have been many tests to rate the performance of the new cPanel.  In one particular test, a virtual private server with 500 MB RAM showed that the standard cPanel installation left 248 MB RAM free, even when the program is idle and not being used.  This means that cPanel claimed more than half the memory on the server.  The VPS version showed that when idle, cPanel uses no more than 90 MB RAM and leaving around 495 RAM to be used by other programs and services.

The developers of cPanel were able to optimize the control panel and ensure lower memory consumption by reconfiguring the Apache component associated with it.  The Apache server application is what serves the web pages from the virtual private server to the people who wish to view them.  While Apache is known to be a memory hog, the VPS version of cPanel was tweaked to keep things running at the same speed without consuming too many resources.  By reducing the amount of memory cPanel and its neighboring programs utilize, VPS hosts are able to effectively allocate their servers and offer a more affordable hosting solution.

Aside from the performance tuneup, the new cPanel still provides a simple user interface with an array of great features.  With this program, you can handle various tasks that cannot be performed with standard versions.  From creating email accounts and password protecting your directories to uploading files and installing software, it can all be done without using the command line.  The VPS version supports a number of add-ons which allows you to customize the appearance, enhance functionality and incorporate custom applications.  Combining extensive system management and an intuitive GUI, the new cPanel offers the flexibility you need to succeed in VPS hosting.

cPanel VPS Optimized is currently only available in Edge, Current and Release versions.  This control panel is however, available through partners and distributors who offer cPanel VPS licenses with their web hosting packages.  Because the program is still in testing stage, experts recommend getting hands on with a demo version before using it on a live VPS hosting account.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Posted on Tuesday, Nov 18 in Control Panels
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: control panel, cPanel, VPS, VPS Optimized

Outsourcing for E-Commerce

As your online business achieves success and continues to grow, it may get to a point where you are no longer able to physically package and distribute your products.  When this occurs, it is time to consider outsourcing order fulfillment to another company.  Order fulfillment centers are abundant and all generally serve the same purpose.  However, these companies vary widely in terms of costs and methods of processing.  This is why you need to give careful consideration to the factors in this article.

Location and Shipping

Order fulfillment centers are located throughout the world.  To save yourself money on shipping costs, you should choose a location that is in close range to your customer bases opposed to something overseas.  If you are targeting a specific demographic such as the Las Vegas, it would be smarter to find a center somewhere in the west coast rather than New York.

Most order fulfillment services offer an array of shipping options. Be sure to do business with a company that enables the flexibility needed for the shipping options you plan to incorporate now, as well as any changes in the future.

Turn Around

One of the most critical aspects of outsourcing is turn around time.  You will find that each company has its own time line in regard to order processing.  Some will ship every order that is sent before a certain time on the same business day.  If that deadline is missed, the order is typically shipped out on the next day.  The most important thing here is to be aware of the structure and make sure your customers understand as well.  If orders are made after 4 pm, your customers might receive the order in two days even though they paid for next-day shipping.

Order Entry

Order entry is another factor that needs to be considered before outsourcing your E-commerce tasks.  Some of the most popular options include the following:

• Forwarding individual orders to the fulfillment center

• Manually inputting orders on a web-based system owned by the fulfillment center

• Sending a spreadsheet of all orders everyday via email

Each of these methods will have a different impact on your E-commerce business.  While you can save money by inputting orders over a web-based system, this can become hectic if your business has grown to a point where time is of the essence.  Emailing each individual order to the company might cost a little extra, but may be worth it to have orders shipped out in time.  Use of the spreadsheet is more cost and time efficient but also limits you to next day shipping.

Costs

You will find that fulfillment centers offer numerous payment scales.  Some require that you sign a contract while others will charge on a per order basis with no contract.  Keep in mind that you will be charged something for the storage of your inventory among other fees.  Make sure you have an understanding of these fees along with the terms in any contract.

Before deciding on a company to handle order fulfillment, schedule a few interviews and check out the warehouse that will be housing your products.  Make sure it is up to par and can support the growth of your E-commerce business.  With a reliable company to handle the packaging, inventory management and shipping, you focus on promoting the business and reaching new heights online.

(2 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Posted on Monday, Nov 17 in E-commerce
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: E-commerce, order entry, order fulfillment service, outsourcing, shipping options

Someone Registered My Domain - What Now?

Everybody is after domain names these days whether its for a website or just an email address to demonstrate credibility.  A domain name shows ownership, helping to prove that you are independent of any free web hosting or email service.  If you have a domain name in mind for your business, it would be a wise move to secure it before someone else does.

So what can you do if someone already registered the domain name you want?  You generally have two options: come up with another name or try to purchase the domain from the owner.  The results you get with the latter largely depends on why the domain name was registered.  Domain speculators, more commonly known as cyber squatters, often purchase domains for the sole purpose of selling them off to the highest bidder.  Believe it or not, some have made a lucrative business out of this practice.  Companies have paid hundreds to millions of dollars for hot domain names.  One example is Pizza.com which sold for $2.6 million this past April.

In some cases, domain names are purchased because a company or individual wants to establish a legitimate online business.  The cold hard facts are that if someone has registered your ideal domain name, you may have no other choice but to go with something else.  There are however, instances where a third option can be exercised.  United States courts have mandated that trademark holders are able to claim specific domains even if someone else registered the name first.  Assuming Toys R Us has their name trademarked for instance, if they run across a site using this for a domain name, they would be able to take legal action and seize control of it.  If you experience something similar, you may be able to claim your domain which will also depend on what type of name it is and how its is being used by current owner.

Because .com reigns supreme on the internet, there is a good chance that your preferred name may not be available with this extension.  In this instance, you might want to consider another top-level domain such as .org or .net.  While these extensions don’t have the familiarity of .com, they still make solid alternatives.  You also have other options as several alternative TLDs have been approved over the last few years.  If you have to choose another TLD, be sure to read the accompanying explanations so you know just who qualifies for what extension.

Another option you have for registering your domain is to use an extension that associates with your country.  Two of the most popular extensions are .de in Germany and .ca in Canada.  The country of Montserrat sells its .ms domain for around $50 per year while domains in the United States can be registered with the .us extension at no cost.  These domains are more likely to be available yet are not well known.  Furthermore, domains with a us. extension are also required to include city and state extensions such as mycompany.detroit.michigan.us.  If you are looking for a catchy name that is easy to remember, this obviously wouldn’t be the way to go.

To find out if your domain has already been purchased, visit whois.com or a major registrar and perform a search.  If its still available, don’t hesitate to secure it.

(3 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Posted on Friday, Nov 14 in Domain Names
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: .com, cyber squatter, domain, domain name, domain registration, TLD, whois

LeaseWeb Makes a Tremendous Investment

LeaseWeb, a well known web hosting company, just announced that it plans to invest in optical DWDM (Dense Wavelength Division Multiplexing) technology to enhance the current optic fiber links in its network.  LeaseWeb architect Bastiaan Spandaw remarks that while DWDM is a rather costly technology, it will greatly improve the network’s scalability and efficiency.  Even more, DWDM is fairly simple to implement into an existing infrastructure.  According to Spandaw, the task is as easy as installing the necessary equipment into the core of LeaseWeb’s data center and then switching their existing connections.

By leveraging the technology, LeaseWeb will be able to create added redundancy and capacity into the backbone of the network.  Echoing Spandaw’s sentiments, the investment will be rather inexpensive, costing the provider an estimated $800,000.  So how does DWDM technology work?  It intensifies the utilization of optical fiber links underground by bundling a spectrum of light through color lasers.  Rather than using a single color or 10 Gigabit Ethernet, the technology enables a combination of up to 400 Gigabit Ethernet or 40 colors on an existing optical fiber.  This implementation will provide the LeaseWeb network with an additional 400 Gigabits per second, a robust capacity that can be easily increased by up to 1,200 Gbps.

The DWDM investment is actually a part of a more elaborate plan for a new LeaseWeb hosting solution.  Based on the Cisco CRS-1 (Carrier Routing System), the new infrastructure will be interconnected by optical fiber of 300 kilometers in the Amsterdam region.  LeaseWeb plans to use 10 links which will utilize mesh protocol to forward data to locations in Amsterdam Science Park, Amsterdam Zuidoost, Haarlem and Schiphol-Rijk.  This infrastructure already provides internet connections for several of LeaseWeb’s facilities including its CO2-neutral data center, EvoSwitch.  If there happens to be an optical fiber breakage due to something such as excavation work, DWDM technology will automatically choose an alternate route for the links to travel.

Indeed, the investment in DWDM technology is very steep, but according to LeaseWeb managing director Con Zwinkels, such an implementation is necessary to secure the provider’s ability to utilize the philosophy into the future.  Zwinkels says that clients need the flexibility to grow whether they are involved in a thriving corporation or internet startup business.  In order to meet these needs, LeaseWeb’s philosophy is to always maintain at least twice the amount of bandwidth in the network as it clients to compensate for excessive use; something that can easily achieved with DWDM technology.

LeaseWeb is a prominent international web hosting company and among the top 20 providers in the world.  Geared for professional hosting solutions, it houses four data facilities in the Amsterdam region with internet exchanges in Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, New York, Prague, Stockholm, Warsaw and Zurich.  This extensive infrastructure enables companies throughout the world to run their businesses in an efficient and affordable manner.  One can only assume that the implementation of DWDM technology and additional bandwidth capacity will further cement the company’s position in the web hosting industry.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

Posted on Thursday, Nov 13 in Web Hosting News
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: Cisco, DWDM, LeaseWeb, optic fiber

Generating Traffic with Search Engines

There are several ways to go about marketing your site and generating traffic.  However, some of these methods are quite risky and simply not worth the time and effort they require.  Marketing companies will attempt to sell you on everything from bulk email campaigns and pop-up advertisements to link farms and banner impressions.  While these tools have proven to be effective, most of them will not be well received by your niche market.  For instance, many people find mass mailings (spam) and pop-ups so intrusive and annoying that they stay away from anyone that uses them.  These methods certainly are not the best way to make impact on your audience and just could be a huge waste of money.  The hit or miss aspect of common marketing techniques is all the more reason to consider the search engines for bringing in traffic.

One of the best ways to gain a significant amount of traffic is to base your efforts on relevance, the driving factor of every online search engine.  A number of different studies show that an estimated 80% to 90% of first time visitors find a website via search engine.  These customers are more likely to lead to sales and conversions because they are already coming in with some level of interest.

On the web, first impressions are everything and you typically do not get a second chance to win over your visitors.  Chances are, someone who endured a bad experience on your site will never come back while the exact opposite could lead you to success.  If your site is user-friendly and offers the content they are looking for, the visitor will return whether they make an on the spot purchase or not.

Search engines like Google and Yahoo can provide you with a steady flow of targeted visitors.  And unlike other marketing techniques, these benefits will do not have to cost you a single penny.  The only thing a search engine wants from you is good, clean relevant content that matches up with what web surfers are looking for.  Give the roaming spiders what they want so they can do what they are programmed to.  If you are able to produce this content on your site, you will be rewarded with quality traffic.

Last Words

Rather than viewing your website simply as a virtual business card, think of it as a piece of real estate that increases in value just like residential property.  Research a few keywords that your niche audience is most likely to enter into a search engine to find you.  Clearly explain to visitors what is is that you do and how they can benefit.  Network with others in the industry to build yourself a fair amount of quality links.  Make sure your website is rich with content and optimized for the search engine.  All of this will enable you to generate traffic naturally.  When designing for both your visitors and the search engines, your rankings will inevitably increase and shower you with additional traffic.

(No Ratings Yet)

 Loading ...

Posted on Wednesday, Nov 12 in SEO / SEM
Trackback URI   Comments RSS
Tags: Google, search engine, SEM, seo, spider, targeted visitor, Yahoo

Ensim Showcases New Unify Enterprise

Ensim Corporation, collaborative infrastructure and web hosting software company, recently gave a demonstration of its latest Unify Enterprise platform this year at the Microsoft Tech ED EMEA IT Professionals Conference.  The event took place in Spain and ran for five days, concluding on November 7.  Labeled as Version 2.5, Ensim Unify Enterprise Edition is structured in a manner that will allow companies to simplify common IT challenges by fully automating the administrative procedures.  This includes provisioning, password and role management and auditing as well as well remaining compliant to Active Directory servers.  Additionally, all Exchange applications can be managed through a secure web-based portal.

Ensim’s latest enterprise product is designed to standardize various procedures using IT policies to provision and provide access control for Active Directory, Exchange and mobile device infrastructure such as Windows Mobile and BlackBerry.  The components of Unify Enterprise can be installed as individual tools or as an entire suite, providing a turnkey environment where IT policies can be enforced and administered from a centralized interface, significantly reducing the downtime associated with configuration issues.

Ensim unveiled the power of its complete Unify Enterprise suite at the Centre Conventions International in Barcelona Spain, reportedly at Booth B8.  Some of the features of the new release include the following:

Fine Grain Role Delegation: Allows the role of system administrator to be restricted by organizational unit policies.

Simplified Provisioning: Automatically configures various integrated componets including logon scripts, end user home folders and the home drive.

Customizable Provision Policies: Allows system administrators to customize the creation of user accounts and provision processes.  This is done by making automatic configurations to specified Active Directory attributes as well as validated username patterns.

Ability to Modify and Audit Logs: Lets administrators keep track of changes made to individual objects.

Enhanced Alert Notification: Enables the customization of action reports such as end-user license notifications and usage statistics.

Multiple Domain Controller Support: Allows system administrators to leverage the software’s preferences to access a number of domain controllers.

Unify Enterprise Edition 2.5 is currently available on the Ensim website.  The company is currently offering an upgrade promotion of the standard Ensim Unify Enterprise Edition for NetPro, NetIQ and Quest users on the site as well.  http://www.get.ensom.com)Additionally, any enterprise currently using a competitor’s solution will qualify for a discount when switching to Ensim Unify product.  This promotion will be active up until December 31, 2008.

Microsoft Tech Ed EMEA IT Professionals is Microsoft’s premiere educational conference strictly made for IT professionals.  The 2008 conference runs five days, teaching administrators how to structure, deploy, administer and secure a networked enterprise with tips from Microsoft experts and other ind