Reading Time: 1 minutes ... the Pentagon has quietly built a multibillion-dollar cyberwarfare capability and trained its commanders to integrate these weapons into their battlefield plans. U.S. Cyber Command was officially stood up in 2010, based at Fort Meade in the Maryland suburbs of the nation’s capital, consolidating intelligence and cyberwarfare capabilities of the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines under one house. Soon, billions of dollars were being invested in the concept that cyberattackers targeting America should be prepared to sustain their own damage. Little has been discussed in public about U.S. Cyber Command’s specific capabilities since, though budget documents detail a growing commitment to this form of warfare. The Pentagon’s cyberwarfare budget has grown from $3.9 billion in 2013 to $4.7 billion in 2014 and an estimated $5.1 billion in 2015. More at: original Washington Times December 22nd Article Link For an additional layer of internet security from many forms of spying and hacking, see information about our SSL certificates .
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Reading Time: 5 minutes With the release of the Web Index Rankings, that measure economic, social and political benefits from countries across the world on December 11, there are some interesting results. The United Kingdom, as well as the Scandinavian countries continue to lead the index, and Canada ranks sixteenth. The World Wide Web Foundation began to produce this index in 2012. The Foundation utilizes a wide variety of data that measure the web's contribution to the world in the areas of social, political and economic progress. The report furthers that the web has allowed a level-playing field with unprecedented access to information as allowed by Sir Time Berners-Lee and CERN when they choose not to patent the creation of the web. The report states, “Today, armed with little more than a smart phone, anyone-- regardless of where they were born and or how much they earn-- can start a business, record a music video, crowd fund an invention, take courses with Nobel Prize- winning professors, or even launch a successful campaign for office.” In this new index, some chilling statistics have come back to the Foundation. Up thirty two percent from last years numbers, political censorship has increased to forty percent. This included the blocking of political or socially sensitive content. In the news lately has been the issue of net neutrality both here in Canada and the United States, and there is a lack of net neutrality in seventy four percent of countries. It should be noted that according to the Sunlight Foundation, only one percent of the US public is opposed to net neutrality, and this is after a plea from late night show host John Oliver on Last Week Tonight. Even with an estimated 1.8 billion internet users still with little to no right for privacy nor freedom of expression, the governmental control of the web continues to this day. read_more The bad news continues, with an increase of governments bypassing legal frameworks that are in position to protect citizens from government snooping, mainly on our communications, up to eighty four percent. It was at sixty three percent in the last index, and actions like British emergency legislation that was...
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Reading Time: 15 minutes What are we talking about in this creative original blog post? How about a freshly deployed “blank content” completely-isolated-new-private-virtual-internet-environment; just like a starter internet on a different planet. In other words, imagine being on an internet where you and your friends are the only inhabitants of Mars but you are all connected through a common (and private) internet on the surface of that distant planet. We think you should be able to deploy and command your own completely isolated Virtual Private Internet (VPI) or perhaps better marketing name Virtual Private Planet (VPP); just add users! ) In this new age of omnipresent internet surveillance/spying/intrusions/ddos attacks, etc and creeping and shadowy “Orwellian” state takeovers, we here at 4GoodHosting thought thinking-up a new service offering, as private and secure as possible, could be a big value-add overall for our customers. So does the idea of a Virtual Private Server(VPS) still sound impressive? Well, try this instead... Virtual Private Internet(VPI) - or Virtual Private Planet (VPP - as private and secure as you and your friends and family living on another extremely distant planet and interacting over your own private internet). "Imagine" a virtual instance of an entirely other pre-configured "encapsulated internet" with almost no content stored in it, maybe just a couple of images and some started 'hello world!' webpages and templates and web builder programs. What if all “content” and logfiles were deleted from this internet, with just open-source webservers and virtualization software (vps - virtual private servers, instead of physical ones) and applications, programming languages, and scripts left on it? And then compiled and condensed into a VPI/VPP container with extra starter terabytes of storage (deeply encrypted by the VPP container) available only to itself and using its own entirely unique ip address protocol? As the whole container is encrypted other than its login sevice, so ,you would need to authenticate into, to get onto, that virtual private internet. Inside it, or on it, you could only request webpages and emails and voice communications from the other users within that self-contained virtual internet. Your ‘allowed-in’ VPI/VPP users can even pick their fantasy geographical location in your virtual fantasy world. Your...
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Reading Time: 4 minutes A Scandinavian technology company, Fox IT, was one of the first discovers of a new threat to PHP based programs (such as WordPress, Drupal, Joomla, etc. ) The Fox IT CryptoPHP white paper is quite technical but we will summarize the issue for you here. It is about something termed ‘Nulled Scripts’ and given another label too, CryptoPHP. This is perhaps a new term to most of our customers. So what exactly are these so-called Nulled Scripts? Nulled scripts are scraps of PHP code, which can be found on free or otherwise non-approved WordPress plugin sites or even in WordPress theme archives; which have had their copy-protection removed. Various *pro* plugins and themes come with a serial number, or key, which enables paid features or provides access to download free upgrades. Nulled scripts have such protections removed (so that it is become ‘free’). There are many websites that are offering these nulled-scripts and also nulled WordPress plugins and theme installers. They shouldn’t be used because of the following problem: CryptoPHP explained The programmers who published the white paper have witnessed a drastic increase in the availability of nulled/corrupted scripts. read_more Of course it is not “new” news that alot of “free” WordPress plugins might have this kind of malware embedded in it; if it was not downloaded from a trusted source such as WordPress.org, WooThemes, WooThemes, Theme Forest, Drupal.org Joomla.org, etc. But this particular kind infection is more of a threat than previous malware because in it encrypts data before transmitting it back to its controlling servers; which of course can be located anywhere in the world. Identifying the infection is rather simple though: For example take this line of code: include('wpassets/images/someimage.png'); A web developer that could be reviewing the code should be suspicious of it because an 'image' is not supposed to be included this way into an PHP script. This “ include() “ function call is supposed to be used for importing PHP code. So this has turned out to be be a way of injecting malware PHP code contained in a fake image file. This devious technique isn’t readily detected by malware/virus scanners because most of the...
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Reading Time: 3 minutes Do you ever feel like somebody is watching your back (and not your computer screen) when you are on the internet? Well Canada’s privacy law is still protecting you when you are online surfing. Our fellow Canadian Social media users are shielded from the complex details Terms of Service on many popular social services. Just because you are forced to check the many lengthy terms of service, that of course most of us don’t sit there for a half and hour and actually read, our privacy law trumps any provision that is against the grain of our current privacy law. "This overriding provision in our federal privacy legislation actually does provide protection for unexpected, unreasonable uses, even with consent," stated a Toronto-based lawyer and expert on internet law Barry Sookman. "So I actually think there is a standard here that applies that is fairly useful and is consumer friendly." “An organization may collect, use or disclose personal information only for purposes that a reasonable person would consider are appropriate in the circumstances." reads Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act. This means that "the person has to agree to the terms," Sookman said. "So a person who simply accesses a social networking site and hasn't seen or hasn't had a reasonable opportunity to review the terms wouldn't be bound by them." If the policy had terms that a reasonable person wouldn't consider appropriate, then those terms may not be binding. "There’s two good examples of when a service’s privacy policy wouldn't be enforceable: either when a person hasn’t been put on notice that there’s going to be a policy that’s binding, or when it’s an unreasonable term." Depending on the service, when somebody accesses their website, many website companies automatically collect basic information to know, for example, where people are coming from and to know if they are a returning visitor. Those kind of data collection is rather hidden and it is automated usually to facilitate the operation of their site. When data collection crosses the line: read_more Where there is some completely unexpected use of one's personal information, matters “may go over the line.”. "So the test in...
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Reading Time: 3 minutes Did you know what google gives a very slight ranking boost to websites that use SSL (https://...) encryption? There are other more significant reasons for your website to offer secure connections to your website visitors, especially if your website conducts ecommerce or credit card transactions. Nowadays, people everywhere have to purchase a SSL certificate if they want to offer secure/private connections to their website visitors. However, that might just be a thing of the past with https://letsencrypt.org/2014/11/18/announcing-lets-encrypt.html As their website explains: “ The challenge is server certificates. The anchor for any TLS-protected communication is a public-key certificate which demonstrates that the server you’re actually talking to is the server you intended to talk to. For many server operators, getting even a basic server certificate is just too much of a hassle. The application process can be confusing. It usually costs money. It’s tricky to install correctly. It’s a pain to update. Let’s Encrypt is a new free certificate authority, built on a foundation of cooperation and openness, that lets everyone be up and running with basic server certificates for their domains through a simple one-click process. Mozilla Corporation, Cisco Systems, Inc., Akamai Technologies, Electronic Frontier Foundation, IdenTrust, Inc., and researchers at the University of Michigan are working through the Internet Security Research Group (“ISRG”), a California public benefit corporation, to deliver this much-needed infrastructure in Q2 2015. The ISRG welcomes other organizations dedicated to the same ideal of ubiquitous, open Internet security. The key principles behind Let’s Encrypt are: Free: Anyone who owns a domain can get a certificate validated for that domain at zero cost. Automatic:The entire enrollment process for certificates occurs painlessly during the server’s native installation or configuration process, while renewal occurs automatically in the background. Secure:Let’s Encrypt will serve as a platform for implementing modern security techniques and best practices. Transparent:All records of certificate issuance and revocation will be available to anyone who wishes to inspect them. Open:The automated issuance and renewal protocol will be an open standard and as much of the software as possible will be open source. Cooperative:Much like the underlying Internet protocols themselves, Let’s Encrypt is a joint effort to benefit the...
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Reading Time: 2 minutes Do you think the Internet is big now? Well, yes it is, but it is only going to get much larger in the next decade as billions more people come online. This comes with the help of big money investors such as Elon Musk backing this idea to put hundreds of lightweight, but heavy on bandwidth, low-earth orbit satellites to cover the world with internet access. The Wall Street Journal published on Friday November 7th, 2014 that Elon Musk and Greg Wyler have been discussing plans with the retired Google billionaire Wyler to develop such an array of satellites with a goal is to deliver internet access around the entire world. The reported idea is to send 700 satellites into space, each about 260lbs. or half the size of the smallest current commercial communications satellites. The pricetag? Estimates are about $1 billion to develop the new addition to the internet grid. Manufacturing locations in Florida and Colorado are currently being mentioned. The project is still in early stages and many are not certain if Mr. Musk will complete this plan. His company, SpaceX has delivered on its goal of delivering and returning supplies to and from the Space Station 4 times, successfully, already. Tesla motors is struggling with it’s electric car designs. The timeframe? The currently stated goal is 360 satellites operating in low Earth orbits becoming operational around 2019-21. Google and Facebook have already announced plans to deliver internet access around the globe using balloons, satellites, and even, oddly, balloons. Just image purchasing web hosting for the price of a fast food lunch, for a whole month, and beamed down directly to some of your website visitors through satellites in space. Pretty neat, eh?
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Reading Time: 3 minutes Hi Folks. Have you checked your website rankings in google this week? The recent ‘Penguin 3.0’ update, also called a refresh, has just been completed. Supposedly only 1% or so of search queries are affected by this recent Google search index update. Simply, Google support ( support.google.com ) recommends avoiding the following linking techniques: Excessive link exchanges Buying or selling links Using automation to create links Low-quality directory or bookmark site links Forum comments with optimized links in the post or signature Links with optimized anchor text in articles or press releases Widely distributed links in the footers or templates of various sites So if you haven’t participated in ‘link spamming’, you should not need to worry, but it is always good to verify anyways, and perform any cleanup that may be necessary to improve your website’s search ranking. read_more We recommend the following free online tools to help diagnose your website’s relation to Google’s new update and guidelines. http://www.analyzebacklinks.com/ http://moz.com/tools/seo-toolbar http://www.ahrefs.com http://www.backlinkwatch.com/ http://www.opensiteexplorer.org/ http://www.linkdiagnosis.com/ & http://www.traffictravis.com/ From our review of these tools, we recommend you try Traffic Travis first. Traffic Travis offers: Keyword Tracking Backlink checker for individual pages Competition Analysis Find Keyword ranking based on different geo specific search engine Page rank checker for Individual pages Sitemap Support Domain name research SEO warning for individual pages Filters to refine your report Adsense finder Keyword research We're always interested in hearing about your experiences with various tools and strategies employed in your search engine optimization efforts. Whether you’ve encountered challenges or celebrated victories, your insights are valuable to us. If you find yourself seeking professional guidance or are overwhelmed with the SEO landscape, we’re here to assist. We offer affordable SEO link building services tailored to enhance your website’s authority and visibility effectively. Our experienced team employs innovative strategies, ensuring quality backlinks that boost your site's ranking and traffic. Moreover, we pride ourselves on offering the best white hat SEO services in Canada. We adhere to ethical and effective SEO practices, ensuring that your website not only ascends in rankings but maintains its position, offering long-term benefits. Feel free to reach out to us for personalized advice, or explore...
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Reading Time: 3 minutes On a Wednesday afternoon in the first week of October 2014 in Palo Alto California, some of biggest names in technology, together many less famous others, were talking with harsh words in response to the ongoing US government surveillance scandal; during a meeting to discuss the potential of the ever creeping state funded spying activities. The event included Google chairman Eric Schmidt, Microsoft's Brad Smith, and Dropbox representative Ramsey Homsany, and a long list of others. Breaking the Internet? They spoke their thoughts on the matter to a Senator from Oregon, Ron Wyden. Google's CEO warned that the impact of all the hyper-surveillance is “severe and getting worse." Fired NSA employee Edward Snowden exposed the US government’s creepy and secretive multi-billion dollar surveillance activities; by coping thousands of official documents (perhaps to a tiny memory card) that clearly outlined the mass surveillance of regular internet user to be far more extensive than the ever-gullible population were aware of. "We're going to wind up breaking the Internet," Google's chief added. World-wide effects and ramifications on the US economy The concerned interests focused on the sequence of issues... read_more after of the uncovering of the massively illegal and unconstitutional mass spying on all of our digital 'effects'. They talked about how some governments are already seeking to make technology companies build their data centers <i>within</i> their borders in order to improve security (from the NSA spies and peeping-toms). The tech companies generally said, if most countries end up following that path the costs would be astronomical would without any doubt damage the US economy. Example fallout from it all has already hit American companies such as Verizon; which recently lost its contract with the German government over concerns about network security. Snowden’s documents pointed out that more than 100 world leaders were swept in for surveillance by the NSA, with German leader Angela Merkel as a leading example. Lack of trust in Ecommerce? Bradly Smith, of Microsoft, raised concerns at the meeting, stating that "in the same way as someone wouldn’t leave their money with a bank they don’t trust, nor would they use an Internet they don’t trust." "The trust element...
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Reading Time: 3 minutes Dear 4GoodHosting customers and visitors , We have replaced the “Attracta” search engine optimization tool with a more modern and effective “seo” optimizer for your website. With this new included tool, MarketGoo, you will be able to get your website ranked faster and higher; helping you with your overall website marketing. We hope that you decide to take advantage of the new service. As with most new services we offer, this one comes with your hosting package at no additional charge. How does the Marketgoo application work? MarketGoo's unique toolset will analyze your website regularly. It will suggest from an assortment of about 200 actions and recommendations; which will be tailored specific to your website and industry. So every single task that you complete while using MarketGoo will be driving your website closer to online success. Where will you be able to find it? If you remember seeing the “Attracta” icon, you will now see “MarketGoo” there instead, in the “Marketing tools” section. How can it benefit you / your website? The Marketgoo application helps you market your website and enables you to improve your website ranking in google and other search engines by “optimizing” your website's Search Engine Visibility, Link Building, and Social Media marketing; and it also benchmarks your site against your competitors. It will help you perfect your website's structure and content and to help you with promoting the relevant keywords associated to your business. read_more Using MarketGoo SEO tools, you will be guided on submitting your website into Google. It will optimize your website to rank in the highest position attainable for the particular keywords that most people use to look your type of business. You will be able to easily and frequently test your results at Google, Yahoo and Bing. Marketgoo crawls all over your website and generates a list of optimization tasks which in turn will help you achieve your marketing objectives. It will tell you what needs to be done, and what you or your editor/webmaster will need to edit the html of your various webpages. MarketGoo's Link Building tools show you links that your ranking competitors have. This way you can at...
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