Category: Security

September 25, 2014

Hosting Related, Security, Security Related

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Dear Customer and/or blog visitor, Please do see this important video presentation. It is certainly worth the time it takes us to wake up to what has really being going on: http://vimeo.com/106681730 For your information, when people send you email to your 4GoodHosting hosted website account (for example: me@my-very-own-site.ca ), or when you send email to another person at another 4GoodHosting hosted website, your email conversation is 'really' or 'actually' "private" - just like real snail-mail used to be. We actually do honor your right to control your private information and to guard it from information wholesaling. We don't look, share, or sell any of your private information. We believe in doing this, and we base our business model on respecting your wishes. But when you email somebody at a @gmail.com account, then your email is definitely wide open to at least google (and who-knows-who-else ultimately gets a copy of it from them throughout the future). Basically if you have a conversation with somebody using google mail (gmail, or yahoo mail, etc.) then your conversation is being recorded for prying eyes and will be potentially/possibly used to profile you to interested parties throughout the future. That's just one point of this eye-opening presentation. We are recommending this video been seen by you, because we believe in the old-fashioned concepts of personal privacy. If you feel the same way, please share the link of this article with your friends. https://4goodhosting.com/blog/value-privacy/ read_more Thank you for your patronage and time reading this.

September 2, 2014

Hosting Related, Security, SEO Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

One effective, yet costly, way to help drive traffic to a website is through the use of PPC (pay per click; google-adwords) advertisements. Yet google has found a way and, by the end of the this month, are enforcing us all to use the new adwords policy termed "Close variant keyword matching". But what does this really mean? This article is not authored by google, therefore we will skim over the positive spin that they would automatically inject into their new campaigns, but rather focus on some potential drawbacks. If you read google's articles about it, it sounds like a good thing; and google plays it up that advertisers already using the new close variant method claim to see an increase in traffic. That may be true: but what is the cost of all the extra ad-impressions being served out?; and perhaps also errant click-thrus by people searching for something 'slightly different '. So say that you have been used to paying google to advertise your site for keywords " women's floral skirts ". So, under the new policy, on he default close-variant matching option "Broad match", web searchers typing in "women's floral shirts " or even "colorful female shirts " might be presented with your ad. Google might *think* there is a possibility that perhaps a typographical error happened when a person typed in 'shirts' and your ad for 'skirts' might pop up. This is just one tiny example, as the total domain of possibilities is immense. Perhaps you can quickly think of your own example(s) too. read_more For a detailed description of the new policy, you can go to these two links that google has presented to the public on this important new topic: https://support.google.com/adwords/answer/2497836 http://adwords.blogspot.de/2014/08/close-variant-matching-for-all-exact.html ... together with the following exhausting, potentially headache inducing, document that google has published named "Keywords to the Wise-Cultivating Demand with Keyword Strategies": http://services.google.com/fh/files/blogs/google-keywords-to-the-wise.pdf 4GoogHosting does not always endorse Google's ranking algorithm adjustments, strategies, and new procedures that we are all occasionally compelled (by Google) to follow. A computer program that google frequently internally hacks on and tweaks is the new judge, jury, and ranking executioner for all of us. The topic...

July 8, 2014

Hosting Related, Security, Security Related

Reading Time: 3 minutes

Benefits of Shared Web Hosting Affordable cost - The benefits shared hosting come in terms of cost as you share a common server with other clients of the web hosting company. With this, we can save money so that we can offer you the services at a lower cost. With less than $10 per month, you can get two different plans of shared hosting. If you consider the features that you are able to get today, our web hosting packages will be more effective and gives excellent value. Simplicity – We maintain the servers and their associated hardware in our peer data center, provide you with the connectivity and along with it, we will maintain all the server administrative tasks that are complex for you. For those people who don't know or who don't have the necessary manpower to run severer or who just need to focus on the critical aspects of their business, shared hosting is a perfect solution. read_more Apart from this, tools such as control panel software and our 4GoodHosting/4GH website builder will make the environment of shared web hosting easy to understand. Even the most technically challenged can succeed because of the rapid evolution in this type of web hosting technology. For more information on shared web hosting, see: Canadian Web Hosting Are you developing a shared hosting account? Performance problems: Sometimes performance varies. For example, if you are having average traffic to your website when compared to Joe who is sharing the server with you has a sudden burst in the traffic. To be frank, in shared web hosting, there is a chance of your website getting affected with neighborhood traffic, which causes the sever delays for a second when it is serving pages. One more issue with shared environment is security that is not sealed-off in shared hosting. Although we are able to provide abundant power to our customers these days, all that requires is one amateur web master to misuse the .htaccess, or another sensitive component for creating a problem on the server. Our server engineers will always diagnose and resolve the problems quickly and will be available 24/7. Your web applications will...

June 10, 2014

Hosting Related, Security, Security Related

Reading Time: 5 minutes

It has been roughly a year back the truth that US national security agency NSA has been accumulating huge amounts of personal data on American and other international citizens secretly. This year, a year after Edward Snowden leaked the documents on how and to what extent government has collected huge amounts of personal data, he has become an icon of the movement that demands more transparency from government agencies when they are using Internet technologies for the purpose of surveillance. However, transparency is just a one-way street in that regard to this heavily corrupted and non-constitutional government. They want to know everything you are doing but they want you not to know how they are spying on you, and are secretive in dozens if not hundreds of other ways. Dauntless and strident calls for reforms in government government surveillance are coming from the companies that hold large amount of customer and client data on the Web. The compulsions come in the form of threats of prosecution through court orders issued by the Foreign International Surveillance Court. The orders seek the information without intimation of such a move to the customer. This sounds like the Nazi era during World War II. The companies who are responsible for personal data are working over strengthening their security backbone through encryption of customer's data at least at some key junctions. The move came after NSA managed to intercept customer data flowing between various private data centers of Google. read_more Tech companies are of the view that government can take considerable steps to safeguard the consumer's data and protect them from unreasonable access to government agencies. But in contrast, government seems to be working in violating the 4th amendment rather than protecting it. An interest group named Reform Government surveillance is working to bring together the large hitech companies like Google, Yahoo, Apple, Dropbox, Microsoft and others to address the government to help them in bringing back the lost faith in their Internet user community. They believe that the surveillance of the government should be constricted by clearly demarcated by laws and the laws should be transparent. They should be proportional to the risks and...

May 20, 2014

Domain Related, Hosting Related, Security

Reading Time: 1 minutes

Net Neutrality is an Important Topic Today 'Net Neutrality' is a widely discussed topic today. Therefore, we feel it's right explain to our customers for more clarity. We found http://www.theopeninter.net/ to be useful. It helps you grasp complex issues easily. Network neutrality implies websites and services should be able to generate equal satisfaction among users across devices: cable, cellular, or via phone connection. Companies such as AT&T, Verizon and Comcast intend to consider each site and service differently so that they can sell their services at different prices to different users. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is proposing a law to frame limits for Internet Service Providers (ISPs). This is likely to result in keeping the Internet accessible to all - without discriminating any websites or services. If the Internet is offered via cable connections and bills, it might become hard to restore as it's today. We should build completely an independent Internet service. Make sure to inform your friends and family.

May 13, 2014

Domain Related, Hosting Related, Security

Reading Time: 2 minutes

100+ major tech companies have voiced some opposition in defense from a new proposal from Federal Communications Commission Chairman Tom Wheeler that would make concessions to a “pay to play” model of network management; which would allow ISPs to charge companies for preferential treatment. These new rules, which are supposed to be voted on May 15, are anticipated to make a major stand against “net neutrality,” which is the idea of a level playing field for all: ISPs should treat all data that travels over their networks equally. The good principled proposal by Wheeler, a former government lobbyist has been opposed in writing by the likes of Google, Reddit, Facebook, Amazon, and others. The proposal reads that the FCC should *not* permit “individualized bargaining and discrimination.” The Open Internet Order, a prior attempt by the FCC to set forth regulations in favor of net neutrality, was shot down in January by a federal court that stated that it exceeded the FCC’s authority.read_more According to the FCC, the latest plan will prohibit ISPs from operating in a “commercially unreasonable manner to harm the Internet, including favoring the traffic from an affiliated entity.” This obviously ambiguous wording has many concerned that it would be “commercially reasonable” to allow ISPs to charge companies like Netflix or Amazon a premium for better network speeds. There are also some dissenting within the federal agency itself. FCC Commissioner Jessica Rosenworcel has stood up and said that the rule-making should be postponed for at least a month to give the public at large at least a minimal time to respond to Wheeler’s proposal. Worried what will happen to its clients, web host Neocities is throttling-down connections from the FCC to 28.8kbps modem speeds as announced on the Neocities.org frontpage (by identifying visitors based on the FCC’s internal IP addresses). While it is obvious that anyone at the FCC will find their access to Neocities only a joke, this is in an attempt to demonstrate how treating online companies differently online could make the internet segmented; where users and companies will need to negotiate network speeds with ISPs; rather than simply making everything fast, available, and equal for...

May 6, 2014

Hosting Related, Security, Security Related

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Date posted: May 6th , 2014 An increased number of big tech companies are denying compliance with government with regard to personal data by updating their terms and conditions and other policies. News that raises concern Washington Post has published that many businesses such as Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft will be notifying their users when their personal data will be asked by the government. They are changing their company policies to suit this. They would comply with such requests only if a judge or other agencies to do so secretly. Many of the protectors of law are concerned that these moves of the company will intimate the criminals before hand and they will try to destroy the evidence of the crimes committed. The government can loose important information on the case. But they need to know that it is criminal and not just on the part of the government to spy on their citizens seeking their personal information. read_more Peter Carr, spokesperson of Justice Department says,“These risks of endangering life, risking destruction of evidence, or allowing suspects to flee or intimidate witnesses are not merely hypothetical, but unfortunately routine.” The tech companies have decided not to pay heed to the guidelines of the subpoenas that ask the tech companies not to inform the users of the data request by the government. This move came after Edward Snowden revealed the spying by NSA last year. As of today, Google notifies users about “legal demands” from government agencies under Google's relevant policy unless prohibited by the court. Kristen Huguet of Apple says, “Later this month, Apple will update its policies so that in most cases when law enforcement requests personal information about a customer, the customer will receive a notification from Apple.” Facebook and Microsoft are reported to have following the leads and take similar steps. As of now, 4GoodHosting has not received any requests from the governments of US or Canada asking for client data. But we'll protect our customers' data and let them know if a customer when the government wants to spy on them.