If you say you’ve got a lot riding on something, it doesn’t necessarily mean someone or something is in the saddle or anything of the sort. There’s no actual riding going on, and instead what it means there is the potential to be successful or unsuccessful with something you have value in. For any business of any size these days they will have a lot riding on their website, and the value they’ll have it is growth and profitability. You go into business to make money, and a website is increasingly how your customers are going to find you these days. So reliable Linux web hosting in Canada is going to be a priority for these folks.

And fortunately consumers do have options as there are many web hosts in Canada that have reasonable pricing for reliable web hosting. Competition exists in any business, but in ours here we need to have exceptional customers service to go along with everything else people will want to be assured of with their web hosting – uptime guarantees, dedicated Linux server hosting for large e-commerce websites with heavy traffic from online customers, SSL certificates for transaction security, and much more.

And that’s what we strive to do here. The majority of Canadian web hosting providers will have online help feature for customers and you get live real-time assistance related to anything with your web hosting package. We do too, and we also make a point of offering a money-back guarantee that our Linux web hosting in Canada is as rock-solid and affordably priced as you’ll find anywhere in the country.

Right Touch

Customer trust when it comes to web hosting isn’t built exclusively on technical capabilities. Yes, you need to be known for web hosting that has sites alongside the information superhighway all day every day and reliably, but there also needs to be a very responsive human element to the way you offer customer service.

We see customer service as a term that encompasses the overall perception and interactions a customer has with a company during the time that they are receiving a paid service. The majority of customers like the affordability of shared web hosting plans and the simplicity of their needs is met quite nicely with them. But it’s not these members who will have customer service inquires as often as those who are enjoying dedicated Linux server hosting.

That may be due to the complexity of what they’re doing with cPanel controls, and that’s perfectly alright. Customer experience contributes significantly to the way a customers will be satisfied or not with their Canadian web hosting provider. There can be various elements to this, including the ease of website setup, the performance and reliability of hosting services, customer support availability and satisfaction, and what’s seen to delivered in the way of overall value.

Timely Responses

Being readily available and quick to respond does wonders for the way your customers will evaluate you as a much-needed service provider for their business. Needing assistance with technical issues is a common inquiry where the web hosting provider will do very well for themselves in this area if they don’t have much downtime between when a customer service request is submitted and then when it is responded to.

Website setup and onboarding questions will come in frequently too. A customer may have a question about selecting a hosting plan, and then registering a domain after choosing Linux web hosting in Canada before they encounter some speedbumps with configuring their website. These days you need to be able to provide your help in a hands-on interaction between the customer and a user-friendly control panel and dashboard.

You’ll also want to have additional tools available to paying subscribers that increase their usability factor with their web hosting and in doing so make it more likely they’ll be satisfied and continue to renew their domain name through you. Examples can be website builders, one-click application installations, automated backups, security enhancements, or performance optimization tools.

Meet Every Expectation

There’s been industry-wide research suggesting that 81% of customers will purchase again if they’re entirely satisfied with the customer service they’ve received. But if that’s not what they believe they’ve received then the same estimates are that 76% of customers will switch to a competitor. This likely also applies for Windows web hosting in Canada. Every host is going to be aware that good and reliable web hosting is going to be a part of these people’s operating costs for the long foreseeable future, and it’s very much in their interest to retain these people as customers.

Keep in mind too that these same satisfied customers may well recommend their web hosting provider to their friends if they have had a great customer experience. This can lead to new customers coming on board, and this will add to the ranks of your loyal customer base.

In the bigger picture, we always need to striving to demonstrate care, be responsive, and show a commitment to customer satisfaction. Hosting providers can genuinely go the extra mile by focusing on select aspects.

Aim to Be Seamless Across All Channels

Customers these days will be contact companies through social media, website forms, live chat, email or phone. You should be focusing on how to accommodate inquiries equally as quickly and thoroughly no matter how they’re sent to your web hosting customer service representatives. And that means being able to accommodate customers even if they’re moving from one platform to another. Customers will often expect that an agent has the necessary access to their account to address their inquiry effectively too.

Other commonalities that you’ll hear dedicated Linux server hosting providers talking about in their relation to good customer service in web hosting is see everything from an elevated view and making notes about trends seen with needs, difficulties, and goals. Identifying and correctly analyzing them can help you address areas where you can be better with your service offering, and the big-picture benefits of that don’t need to be explained.

Speaking for ourselves, we’ve been a leading Canadian web hosting provider for so long that we feel confident we can receive, handle, and provide the right solution for any customer service inquiry we receive connected to any aspect of what customers are able to do with controlling their website through cPanel here or anything related to administration and account services.

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This is the time of year when people start thinking they just can’t get enough sunshine, but it’s natural to feel that way when the days get shorter and the weather tends to be darker and drearier. But nonetheless it’s an incredible free resource that contributes to our overall well-being in so many ways, and there’s people with seasonal affective disorder who actually become sick due to a lack of rays.

Now it may seem strange that we’d be talking about sunshine in a discussion of memory, bandwidth and anything tied into the way we are collectively utilizing digital technologies. But here’s the connection; we may be able to get by with shorter and darker days because we know eventually spring will come around again. But when it comes to bandwidth and the lack of it slowing down our movements online there’s no reprieve coming and there’s also a lot of the concept of induced demand too.

So building more and wider free ways to accommodate traffic never works, but with bandwidth there are real tangible benefits to expanding, improving, and optimizing memory capacities. What’s new isn’t new for very long here, but these advances are the kinds of stuff that will appeal to any good Canadian web hosting provider and that’s true for us here at 4GoodHosting too. For that reason the coming advent of HBM4 memory is definitely a blog-worthy topic, and so that’s where we’re going for this week.

Businessman pressing virtual button in quantum computing concept

Fast Data Transfer Rates

High-bandwidth memory (HBM) is much more considerable today than it was 10 years ago even, and the way it has supercharged data transfer rates is something we’ve all benefited from. Much more in the way of features has come along with it too, and it seems that the best is yet to come with HBM memory and courtesy of the super digitally-savvy developers at Samsung.

The new HBM4 memory is expected to become available to consumers through standard product fare by next year (2024) and will feature a 2048-bit interface per stack that is 2x as wide as HBM3’s 1024-bit. This superior new memory is going to feature technologies optimized for high thermal properties in development, such as non-conductive film assembly and hybrid copper bonding.

This increase in interface width from 1024-bit per stack to 2048-bit per stack will likely constitute the biggest change in HBM memory technology ever seen. 1024-bit interfaces have been the norm for HBM stacks since 2015, and so over the course of 8 years many people have become accustomed to limitations created by them. This coming doubling up of capacity is going to be a treat for many of them as they make themselves newly accustomed to it.

Per-stack capacities of between 32GB and 64GB and peak bandwidth of 2 TB/s per stack or higher are going to facilitate major differences in operability right across the board. Let’s make it clear though that to build a 64GB stack you will need a 16-Hi stack with 32GB memory devices. To date nothing even close to that has been developed though, so it looks like such dense stacks will only hit the market alongside the introduction of HBM4.

Some TBD

All this rosy outlook may need to be tempered somewhat as we still don’t know whether memory makers will be able to take those ~9 GT/s data transfer rates supported by HBM3E stacks for HBM4 stacks with a 2048-bit interface and make them stick. But the belief is that with some trial and error over the next 6 months to a year they will and the increase in bus width will double peak bandwidth from 1.15 TB/s per stack to 2.30 TB/s per stack.

That’s power, space and flexibility in one tidy package, but we also need to be looking at how widening of a per-stack memory interface will affect the number of stacks processors and interposers can handle. We need to take today’s massive processors into account with relation to the implementation of new and superior memory technologies.

Nvidia’s H100 is a good example, and its support of six 1024-bit wide HBM3/HBM3E doesn’t go so well when its operating with a massive 6144-bit wide interface. However, if the interface of a single KGSD increases to 2048 bits then the question becomes do processor developers keep using the same number of HBM4 stacks, or do they need to find ways of reducing them will hopefully still maintaining high-performance standards.

All this said, HBM4 memory looks like it’s going to be a fantastic add, even though implementation of it still has a few building blocks that have yet to be put in place.

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Profound developments in digital technology over the last 10+ years have made it so that there’s more than one means of doing something 9 times out of 10. As it relates to being able to access and utilize data that’s been hugely beneficial, but with greater means of whatever it may be comes greater risk of that accessibility being abused by those who don’t have legit intentions when it comes to how that data and / or resources are utilized.

It is not really physical access control that’s at issue here when it comes to security risks associated with all of this, and instead it’s much more related to logical access controls. The difference between the two is that logical access is primarily for access to a digital space of some sort, and so it makes sense that any and all cybersecurity risks that are inherently increased with digital access controls are going to bee seen in that logical access space. Examples can be passwords to access files on a shared server, or biometric credentials to access certain features on corporate networks.

As we all know there’s no going back when it comes to tech progress, and part of being a quality Canadian web hosting provider is seeing, understanding, and being responsive to changing realities that are occurring as technology makes resources accessible is a part of being accountable to those who trust us with their web hosting. Some people won’t have any need to take so much of an interest in it, but others will and we feel it’s helpful to be informative where we can be.

We’ve also seen how cloud computing has become so integral in every aspect of modern computing and with ecommerce very much tied into tit. What we’re seeing now is how access control tech is increasingly dependent on cloud-based solutions, and there’s plenty of good reasons for that It’s what we’ll look at with this blog entry.

Progressively Less Secure

Developing and implementing managed access control systems continues to be an aspect of physical security that is of paramount importance for most modern organizations. There are reports indicating the global access control and authentication market is growing at cumulative annual rate of 11.4% and should reach a total market size of $37.2 billion by 2032.

The relevance of this is based on the way physical access control systems continue to be utilized by organizations of all sizes, with estimates putting 41% of businesses operating physical access control technology believing their systems meet or exceed necessary functional requirements.

But these days several contributing factors are detracting from the efficacy of some installed physical access systems. There is an estimated 38% increase in global cyberattacks that pose significant threats to security systems, and many businesses may feel their systems need updating to incorporate more touchless access solutions in the wake of the pandemic.

In response to all this there have been continued developments in the field of cloud-based access control technology that aim to address the growth of more pressing security concerns. Integrated systems can now provide security teams with automated responses, predictive analysis features and remote-access functionality. But why is it that cloud-based solutions are so integral to the future of access control tech for modern businesses?

Flexibility & Authority

Cloud-based security management platforms enable admins to configure and adjust active systems much more quickly and from remote locations using any secure smart device. One of the biggest pluses is this lets teams to immediately respond to detected anomalies and revoke live permissions if necessary. They can also view live data feeds pertaining to connected devices to better understand unfolding incidents.

Organizations with a cloud-based access control solutions enjoy so much more in the way of flexibility and authority over the management of physical security responses and there are significant benefits to cloud-based access control. For starters they have the option of hosting the management of access control solutions within cloud servers, security and IT teams to extend the functionality of existing hardware, and extending it far beyond the limitations of a segregated system.

This means access control devices can be informed by data from additional systems to measurably improve the efficacy of incident responses, along with much more far-reaching customization. It will also prevent unauthorized access to private properties by limiting entry only to persons carrying verified credentials. This will be dependent on modern access control systems being designed to provide users with a convenient way to enter facilities though.

Cloud-based access control solutions are well equipped to mitigate these concerns, and they do it by enabling security and IT teams to view live access logs and adjust active hardware remotely. This means issues regarding suspected faults can be seen to without delay and admins can grant access to guests and visitors remotely. The biggest advantage to this is contractors and interviewees can be managed appropriately.

The last big advantage we’ll highlight here is how cloud-based security cameras equipped with AI data analytics software can be connected to access readers via a wider web-based management platform. When cameras are able to intelligently detect suspicious events and correctly identify them and their nature then access control locks can be automatically engaged and security teams can be notified remotely.

Cloud-based access control systems will also be set to receive significant data security and maintenance benefits when they are hosted on cloud servers. Identifiable user data is then made available to teams when needed and smart automatic backups will minimize the risk of data loss.

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Not everyone has the same vocation, but some of us have ones where we’ve been referred to as ‘white collar’ types who are in an office 9 to 5 Monday to Friday. For us it’s normal to need to go through a long list of unopened emails every morning, and if you’re more of a blue collar than white type of person then you can be thankful you don’t need to do that. But that’s neither here nor there with what we’re going to discuss for our blog entry here this week.

Email may have had the soundest of beginnings, and the value it has had in allowing speedy yet detailed interpersonal communications has been invaluable. But these days nearly everything has the potential to be corrupted to some extent and by whatever means, and your inbox is the farthest thing from being immune to that. If you’re on of the office guys or gals we talked about to begin with, you may have already had to deal with domain name spoofing. What’s also like is that you’ve received a company-wide email warning you to be on the lookout for it.

99+% of customers for every good Canadian web hosting provider is going to have an inbox of their own, and many of them may be the same hotbed of activity and incoming emails in the same way it is for us. Domain name spoofing is one of the more pronounced risks where recipients can be fooled into greenlighting scams and other types of nefarious digital activity, so let’s use this entry to talk about what you can do to keep yourself safe from it.

What is Display Name Spoofing?

Mail display name spoofing involves cybercriminals impersonating others and manipulating the sender’s display name so that the email appears to come from a trusted source. In worst-case scenarios – and they unfortunately work out this way often – recipients then open the mail and possibly end up clicking on malicious links, or revealing sensitive information.

Getting into more specifics, this is the way it works and what you’ll probably quickly come to see is that display name spoofing isn’t difficult to do. The perps will first identify a target, and the best ones for them are organizations or individuals with a level of trustworthiness or a reputation that’s ripe for exploitation. From there an email message is crafted and they make every effort to make it seems genuine and containing a message that will see legitimate to the recipient.

There are even means by which they can use the same logos and formatting that you’d see in an email coming from that specific source, and the best ones do really well in imitating the same the type of language that would be used. Often times with even the same type of syntax structures.

But the most essential part of this construction is in the way the email address isn’t changed, while the sender’s display name is. And quite often the change is very small and subtle and you would need to look at it with more than just a glance to detect an inaccuracy. What the attacker does is change the sender’s display name to match that of the trusted source.

The Sending

Once the email has been built then it is sent to the target, and the problem is in the fact that the recipient sees only the spoofed display name and not the actual email address. If their guard is down and / or they’re not paying close attention, they may open the email and then interact with in the same way the spoofer wants.

It’s common to incorporate a deceptive subject line too, and quite often they will use one that instills urgency or curiosity, encouraging the recipient to open the email. Too many people become victims here , and the reason for that is because recipients often trust emails that appear to come from familiar names or organizations. When that happens they are more likely to engage with the messages.

You don’t even need a lot of skill or proficiency to be able to do this, and that may also be a part of why domain name spoofing is occurring a lot more frequently these days.

How to Protect Yourself

The first thing you can do is look at the email addresses much more carefully to verify them. Always check the sender’s full email address, and this means not looking at only the display name. If it is unrecognizable or is oddly put together and doesn’t ‘look’ right, don’t open the email and if you’re convinced it is fraudulent you should block the sender and report it to your IT team if you are in an office workplace environment.

It’s also advisable to be skeptical of emails that demand immediate action or contain urgent requests. This is a way that the senders try to trick you into making hasty decisions. You should also hover over links to get a visual of where you’re going to be redirected to. If the URL looks suspicious, don’t do it.

Email authentication protocols like SPF (Sender Policy Framework) and DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) are also recommended to avoid domain name spoofing. Enabling Multi-Factor Authentication is advisable too as it adds an extra layer of security to your email account, and the attackers will have more difficulty gaining access to it.

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Some people are already suggesting that we may have opened something of a Pandora’s box by embracing Artificial Intelligence and AI technologies like ChatGPT in the way that we have. Most will counter that by saying you can’t stop progress, and so if we’re beginning to spin into the black hole then so be it. We won’t wager an opinion on that, but like most we do know that as of now there’s a whole lot to like and look forward to with the implementation and utilization of AI.

These days one of the cyber security areas where it’s doing good and much-needed work is in the detection and prevention of phishing scams. Most of us will know McAfee as being one of the most well-known and renowned antivirus software suites.

Most will also know that the software’s creator – Mr. John McAfee – was truly a man’s man and during his time here he lived a life that was very admirable and he did a lot of good. He will continue to be someone for young men to look up to and emulate as they grow into adulthood, and that’s exactly what John would have wanted. The world needs more people like him, that is for sure.

All that aside, this talk about significant progress into phishing scam detection and prevention is going to be a topic of interest for us here at 4GoodHosting in the same way it would be for any good Canadian web hosting provider. Let’s take this week’s entry here to look at the growing scope of the problem and how new tech developments powered by AI are helping to counter growing threats.

Tricked Into

Phishing scams have been occurring for decades, but in more recent years have evolved to become increasingly sophisticated. A phishing attack will involve people being ‘tricked’ into providing sensitive information like login credentials, credit card numbers or other personal data. Along with all the technological advances go similar advances with the tools and techniques scammers utilize to conduct their attacks.

So while AI is part of the cure, it’s also part of the disease figuratively speaking. AI’s fast rise has created new opportunities for scammers to conduct more effective and targeted phishing scams, but at the same time AI can also be used to improve phishing detection and prevention techniques. Let’s start with how AI makes phishing scams stronger.

AI-Powered Phishing Scams

1. Spear Phishing

You may have snorkeled back to the boat with a Dorado for dinner, but in the digital world spear phishing is a highly targeted form of phishing that involves sending personalized messages to specific individuals or groups. AI increases the power and reach of them by automating the process of collecting information about a target. Social media activity, online behavior and personal interests etc. all gleaned to craft a highly personalized message that is more likely to persuade the person to make the fateful click or whatever it may be.

2. Deepfakes

Deepfakes are realistic videos or images created with AI and then used to impersonate someone else. Scammers can use deepfakes to create videos or images of executives, celebrities, chumps or other high-profile individuals and entirely convincing the person that they’re communicating with a legitimate source.

3. Chatbots

AI-powered chatbots are another great and very welcome utility for scammers. They are capable of engaging with a lot of targets at one time and reaching more targets than traditional phishing methods would be able to. Chatbots may also initiate conversations with people and convince them into providing sensitive information or click on malicious links.

Guarded Against

Alright, to the other side of the coin now; what can AI developments do to better detect phishing scams and put a target on them for unsuspecting users? Here it is.

1. Machine Learning

Training machine learning algorithms to identify phishing emails is being turned into a valuable weapon against phishing scam initiators. They are able to analyze various features like a sender’s email address, the content of the email, and the nature of any embedded links or attachments they’re including in whatever it is. They can also analyze user behavior and identify anomalies that could point to a phishing attack being set up.

2. Natural Language Processing (NLP)

NLP can be used to analyze the content of emails and pinpoint patterns or keywords that are known telltale signs of phishing emails. NLP algorithms analyze the language used in phishing emails to identify common patterns and determine if they are genuine or fake. They are also focusing on cross-channel communications across multiple channels to determine if they are part of any phishing attack.

3. User Behavior Analysis

Existing security systems can analyze patterns in user behavior much more intelligently with real focus and insight when backed by an AI. It can be used to monitor user login, link click, attachment download and email reply activity to identify anomalies that may indicate a phishing attempt. By monitoring user behavior, security systems are so much better with identifying and respond to phishing scams to prevent data breaches, financial losses and identity theft.

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