It’s not just big name sites like Twitter and Facebook that can fall victim to a Denial of Service (DoS) attack. Any site can be vulnerable to DoS, from a deliberate attack to a negative side effect resulting from an increase in its online profile. For any brand with a website, it’s better to be prepared for than put out of commission by DoS.

A DoS attack can be executed in several different ways.

• Botnets: A botnet is a group of remote computers that is being run by someone for mischievous purposes. The entire botnet can be harnessed to attack one site or a group of sites to cause a DoS. For example, a botnet can request so many pages from a web server that the server won’t be able keep up with them all and be unable to respond. The server’s inability to keep up with all of these requests causes the DoS to occur.

• Organized groups: An organized group like some sort of protest group that wants to take down government or financial sites can also coordinate a DoS. Similar to a botnet attack, the group would all attempt to access their targeted sites at the same time, elevating site traffic to a point where the site is unable to handle it all.

• Ping floods: Another way to launch a DoS attack is ping floods. This attack would take place at a network level and works similarly to an attack on a server. The DoS attacker would request so many “reply backs” from the network that it would be flooded with all these different requests and wouldn’t be able to respond. (more…)
  

Small businesses can face a daunting task when it comes to securing their networks. There seems to be (and are) new viral threats every week, threats that can make a small business with a tight budget fearful of the costly damage an attack can cause to its network. The challenge for small businesses is to find a security solution that will protect their business investment but will not place a serious dent in their bottom line.

Luckily, there are inexpensive security options available for a small business to take advantage of that can help keep their networks secure and their peace of mind intact.

Network Security
The first step a small business needs to take is to make sure all the computers in its network have been properly updated. They need to have the latest antivirus updates as well as any other updates from their operating system vendor. It’s important to keep your network current with any Microsoft or Mac updates. (more…)

If your website is being hosted in a shared server environment and you are wondering what advantages that switching to a dedicated environment might provide, I can offer three for you to consider: safety, security, and control.

• You can enjoy the safety that comes from having your own dedicated IP address.  Your IP address is how your server is identified on the Internet.  So if someone else on your shared server is flagged for doing something questionable like sending spam or hosting an adult website, because you have the same IP address that they do, your site can also suffer any punishment that they might receive as a result of their actions (e.g., getting blacklisted).  In extreme cases, you might even get blacklisted from search engines like Google, which can be very bad for your brand’s marketing.

• You would receive the security that comes from the server belonging to you and you alone.  No one else would have physical access to the server other than you or someone you authorize, like an admin team.

• You would have greater control over the server because only your site(s) would be on it.  You wouldn’t need to worry about the needs of any other company’s sites, like a required software package, slowing down your server’s speed and affecting the performance of your website.  You would also be able to make any tweaks of modifications to the server you want without having to be limited by the requirements of the server’s manager because, unlike on a shared hosting environment, you would be the one setting the rules.

Moving from a shared server to a dedicated one is kind of like moving from an apartment complex into your own home.  You aren’t just another tenant; you’re the king (or queen) of your own safe and secure castle.

One of the toughest challenges when managing a data center is keeping everything up and running in the face of a disaster.  Our clients depend upon us to keep their brand online and their back end operations working smoothly, regardless of the circumstances.

About a month ago, Hurricane Ike brought hurricane force winds to Louisville, leaving thousands of homes and businesses without power and an indefinite power outage to the home of our primary data center. This was the first major test of our emergency plan, and I am happy to announce we passed with flying colors.

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The Internet is filled with all sorts of threats to a brand’s network security.  Every day, hackers come up with newer and more sophisticated ways to launch attacks against inadequately protected networks.  Some brands have seen and reacted to this threat but a considerable number of companies have still not properly protected their networks from the threat of Web-based security attacks.

For whatever reason, these companies have not set aside the budget to allow for their security systems to be able to provide the protection their network needs.  This is basically like not installing alarms and locks on your business.  There probably isn’t a brand out there that would leave their offices so unprotected.  So why do some of them leave their virtual offices so vulnerable?

These vulnerable brands need to view the cost of network security as another cost of doing business.  Generally speaking, the cost of security packages that can protect a brand’s network won’t break its budget, even costing less than it does to buy all those locks and alarms.

A proper investment in network security can enable a brand to benefit from the protection provided by these security services.  One of these security measures is a good firewall.  A firewall is by far the most important security investment a brand can make.  Firewalls help protect the brand’s network from any unauthorized access.  For the corporate environment, it’s better to go with a hardware firewall than a software one because a hardware firewall can provide blanket protection for every single machine on a brand’s network.  Software firewalls only protect the PC they’re installed on.

Other security investments a brand needs to make to help keep its network safe include:
•    Anti-virus protection to protect the brand’s network from being infected by any sort of malicious software that can bring it down
•    Anti-spam protection to keep the brand’s system free from the costly clutter and system slowing burden of unsolicited e-mails
•    Regularly scheduled security scans and testing of its network to make sure that network security is still up to date and able to combat the newest threats

It’s too risky for your brand to leave its network improperly protected.  A security breach can result in a financial hit far more budget-breaking than any investment in a solid, reliable, network security package would be.  Hackers shouldn’t be able to just walk in and have their way with your brand’s network.  Invest smart and get your network secure.