If you have been following the news headlines in the last week, you will already know that Yahoo has been telling its users to change their passwords and be on the lookout for any suspicious activity in their other accounts (banking, other logins, etc). This is because if a hacker gains access to one account, he can learn a lot about you and find password resets, login information, and so forth for other accounts. That is just one simple example.
This should not surprise any of us.
Although this topic is not related to your use of PLR, it is important to address this as it is something that could take down your business, that you have been working so hard to create. So hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. That is my advice for you today.
My most recent scare with hacking was about three weeks ago when I suddenly was unable to login to the backend of most of my websites. I got on the phone with Hostgator to find out what the problem could be, and after two hours on the phone, and them trying everything, they told me that I should contact SiteLock, because it looked like I had been hacked.
Fortunately, I did more of my own looking around, and with the generous help of Bulletproof Security Pro, which I use as additional security on all of my websites, we were able to determine that there was NO hacking, and some of my wordpress files had mistakenly been quarantined. So Hostgator’s conclusions were false, and they were recommending a service that was totally unnecessary (SiteLock). Suffice to say, I am going to be moving over to a new hosting server, as Hostgator support has deteriorated in past years.
I always try to find the positives in every situation, and in this case, I have to say that I sure learned a lot about databases and php my admin – more than I knew before. It’s not as scary as I once thought. 🙂
If you are also looking for a new hosting server, consider this one (That is where I am going to have my sites gradually moved over to). I sometimes hire Cindy Bidar to work on technical aspects of my sites, and this is what she recommended to me, so I definitely trust her recommendation. She is the person who works behind the scenes on websites owned by well-known people like Nicole Dean and Melissa Ingold. So don’t let the name of that hosting server fool you – it is for everyone – women and men. I believe the name originates from the vision of a work-at-home mom.
This is my second scare over the years, and this time it really shook me up as my websites are generating income.
I have written on this topic once before, and I am going to send you to these pages as they are still relevant:
http://www.theonlinechick.com/online-security-tips/
http://www.theonlinechick.com/roboform/
In addition, I want to mention some other things that you need to consider. Here they are:
(1.) If you have a wordpress site, be sure you protect access from spammers and hackers.
After trying several different products, I have been very happy with Bulletproof Security Pro. It is a plugin that you can install on unlimited (yes, all!) websites that you own. Set-up is easy to do, by following a video tutorial. But what I have really appreciated in the last few weeks, is the support that I have received from them in directing me how to correct things. If I was really stuck, I provided them with FTP access to look into things, and then they told me what I had to do.
To get into all the technicalities of how it works, is beyond my understanding and ability to explain. 🙂 However, considering it only requires a one-time fee, it is definitely worth everything it promises.
(2.) If you use public Wifi without a VPN (Virtual Private Network) and taking proper precautionary measures, stop!
If you are using public Wifi with your laptop, Ipad, or cell phones, you are putting yourself at a significantly-increased risk of being hacked. When you use public wifi, you are on a shared network where anyone can see what you are up to. If you are using Windows 10 on your laptop (Sorry, I don’t know a thing about Mac) on public Wifi, you can take a few extra precautions such as heading on into File Explorer -> Network -> Network and Sharing Centre -> Change Advanced Sharing Settings -> Guest or Public -> Turn off Network Discovery -> and Turn off File and Printer Sharing. However, don’t stop there. You need to make it tough for spying eyes to get access to your information.
Therefore, for extra security, be sure to explore various VPN’s. I am now exploring this one. It has good reviews, and has a relatively inexpensive yearly rate (around $39/year or $3.33/month – about the same or less than a cup of coffee at Starbucks) compared to some of its competitors, which are almost double. Another option is to use free services like Hot Spot Shield (but you will see a lot of annoying ads – I know as I’ve used it!), or Betternet, which offers you free unlimited VPN (it’s a Chrome extension). You might want to do some experimenting with these options, and see what suits you best. It is just important that you use something!
It is also worth mentioning that Private Internet Access has applications for Windows, Mac OSX, Debian Linux, iOS, and Android operating systems.
As for a numerical limit, you can have up to 5 devices connected to our service at a time on one subscription. The service can be installed on as many devices as you like, but only five will be able to connect at any given time.
Watch for more tips in a future blog post ….
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