Internet hacking is someone gaining access to your internet credentials. This leads to them being able to log in to your accounts and devices and be able to also access your personal information stored in those places.

This can be dangerous as your information can be stolen/leaked, hackers can log into your banking apps leading to theft as well as holding your accounts/devices for ransom, hackers can gain access to your private information and sell it to big companies for advertising purposes or hackers just simply want to cause a disturbance.

If you do not want this happening to you, here are the best ways to stay cyber secure

• Use strong passwords.

If you are setting a password for an online account or device, try and make one that is unique and does not include any public details of yourself including your name or birthday. A good way to make a unique password is to chose a word and break it up with different numbers and symbols to replace some of the letters, eg: instead of ‘hello’, use ‘h3ll0!’. Always remember to NEVER store the password to your devices and accounts on the device, if you must, write it down on paper and store it somewhere safe only you have access to.

• Activate Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).

2FA allows you to add an extra layer of security with your password. You will get a unique one time password, a link or a secret code sent to your mobile or email address upon every log in to your accounts or for online banking, any time you go to make a transaction. There are also free third-party apps like Google Authenticator and Microsoft Authenticator that aid in enabling 2FA on mobile devices including all apps installed on the device.

• Recognise Spam Emails.

Spam emails have common flaws you need to look out for to protect you from a cyber attack.

1. Check the sender’s email address. If the email is very long and unusual, look out! If someone is claiming to be an employee from a big corporation, the email will always have the company name as their domain (‘@apple.com’, ‘@amazon.com’). It would never have a generic domain like ‘@gmail.com’ or ‘@hotmail.com’.
2. Check for punctuation or grammar mistakes. If the email is filled with poor grammar and vocabulary, do not ignore it. Established companies have strong standards regarding their online communication. This makes it uncommon for an email or post to have grammatical errors. So if you see these errors, be aware.
3. Is the email too good to be true? If the email is stating you have won a brand new iPhone with no information on how or why, it is most likely a scam. Scam emails commonly say you have won something to entice you to click on any attachments leading to a cyber breach.

• Use a VPN.

Using a VPN is another tool you can install to help keep you safe. A VPN will do a number of things including:

1. Secure encryption – hides your online activities even on public networks.
2. Disguising Location – hides your location from being accessed.
3. Prevent Data Theft – stops your personal data being taken and sold.
4. Accessing Blocked content – a VPN allows you to change your location to anywhere in the world to view content blocked in your country.

The post Best Ways to Prevent Internet Hacking appeared first on Webtek Media.

So, firstly you need to make the decision on whether enabling comments on your WordPress blog will be valuable to your website and its readership and if that is a big YES, then being prepared for spambots visiting and posting to your unprotected comments section is very much a given.

Ok so I hope I haven’t scared you off opening your website comments section, but knowing there are drawbacks as well as positives is just as important as knowing how to combat your websites comment spam.

Don’t get me wrong, comments on your blog posts, positive or negative, can create a sense of community and discussion you may not necessarily get elsewhere and can help increase site visits as part of your SEO campaign. I always recommend new site owners enable comments as a way to engage with their readership and help gain a broader view of the topic raised, but if your site is not protected then it brings the chance of potential comment spam by spambots engines.

Well if like me in years gone past you created a post that you wanted to engage with your viewers and encourage feedback but the thought of approving/disapproving comments meant you blocked all functionality well then worry no more.

Google reCAPTCHA is a free service that protects your website from spam and abuse. reCAPTCHA uses an advanced risk analysis engine and adaptive CAPTCHAs to keep automated software from engaging in abusive activities on your site. It does this while letting your valid users pass through with ease. So get yourself (if you haven’t already) a Google account and enable this free service. For more information visit www.google.com/recaptcha/.

Now that you have enabled Google reCAPTCHA and have your Site and Secret Keys you’ll need to install a plugin that will do all the work for you. Below are just some of the great plugins that will control access to your comments, along with your WordPress Login screen and contact forms.

Google Captcha (reCAPTCHA) by BestWebSoft

No CAPTCHA reCAPTCHA by MailOptin Team

The post Combating your website comment spam with Google reCAPTCHA appeared first on Webtek Media.

Google began marking sites in Chrome v56, which was issued in January of this year. They targeted HTTP sites that collect user passwords and credit card details, such as online stores that didn’t provide adequate security measures in protecting websites from being hacked or compromised.

For owners to secure the information being shared among their visitors and their web server, they must start incorporating an SSL certificate. Failing to do this is risky for both parties: sites that allow the sending of information in clear text may also allow its exposure through the Internet.

In an attempt to thwart phishing sites from stealing your credit card and password data, Google’s warning of ‘Not Secure’ will strengthen site security and to protect website visitors from any compromise.

Eventually, Chrome will show a ‘Not Secure’ warning for all pages served over HTTP, regardless of whether or not the page contains sensitive input fields. Even if you adopt one of the more targeted resolutions above, you should plan to migrate your site to use HTTPS for all pages.

We suggest you purchase a SSL Certificate now to avoid any site warnings that may distract from your customers making purchases or interacting with your website.

The post How to avoid Google’s ‘Not Secure’ non HTTPS warning appeared first on Webtek Media.

Without monitoring software most hacks go without notice until you or one of your customer visits your site and then boom…they are hit with a security warning.

Googles Malware Notification is enough to scare off any new or current customers from ever visiting your website again

Thousands of hacked websites are taken offline by Google and for many businesses, their Google listing is the lifeblood of their business. Scary I know, but unfortunately it’s happening more and more with hackers attempting to redirect your site traffic to illegal or pornographic sites, even those servicing Ransomware.

But before you panic there is a solution that can block all these attempts or fix any compromised site whilst providing 24×7 security all year round…introducing Site Guard.

Site Guard is your complete, cloud-based website protection that finds and automatically fixes threats, prevents future attacks, and accelerates your website speed.

Site Guard offers;

• Daily malware scanning
• Daily vulnerability scanning
• Up to 500 pages monitored
• Spam & blacklist monitoring
• SEO reputation monitoring
• Exceptional customer support
• Threats instantly removed
• Instant notification of threats and immediate removal of any vulnerability and malware

Site Guard is easy to setup and extremely affordable to give you peace of mind that your website is protected and monitored, even while you sleep.

We have been using Site Guard on our website and are extremely happy with the value for money and effectiveness it offers.

As part of becoming an official Site Guard Security Partner, we are offering a 25% discount to all new signups. To apply simply click the button below or visit their website for more information

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