New Year, New Post - Facebook Lockdown Guide

Just a quick heads up from the folks at CNet.com. They put together a very comprehensive overview of Facebook and how you can secure your account. Check out their page at the link below. Facebook hacking and password security are becoming more and more of a problem, so please make sure to read this carefully if you have a Facebook account.

From CNet...

"New Year’s resolutions are among us, though voluntary and often roll over from year to year. This time around, though, take one New Year’s resolution as a wild card, and lock down your Facebook profile like your own personal Fort Knox, and get it out of the way for the year ahead.

The bad news is that damage could well have already been done, as some features are hidden away and are difficult to find. But, don’t panic. You will be surprised how much you can recover in the space of five or ten minutes of clicking on a few buttons."




http://www.zdnet.com/blog/igeneration/january-2011-the-definitive-facebook-lockdown-guide/7439?tag=nl.e539

Orlando Family Attorney Rhonda Parnell

We just finished up the new website design for Rhonda Parnell's law office. The site color scheme was based on Rhonda's office just outside Orlando in Winter Park. We think the site turned out great!

When you get a second, check out the site and leave us a comment.

Google Analytics and your website.

If you've talked to us before about building a website, you've probably heard us mention Google Analytics at some point. Google Analytics is the free suite of tools that we use to track visitors to your website. Think of it like the turnstalls at Disney, only more accurate. With Google Analytics, we can not only track who comes to the site, but also how long they stay, what they look at, where they live, and alot more.

If your website doesnt have Google Analytics monitoring, you need to call Hughes I.T. Solutions soon. You'll never know how your website is doing, or what it could be doing without this information. Our Search Engine package includes the setup of a variety of Google tools, along with link building and other SEO changes to your site. We make sure that your website is as Google "Friendly" as possible.

Why am I getting viruses on my computer?

I've had a handful of clients who asked me similar questions. They are always curious how these viruses get onto their systems. One of the tacticts used to get viruses on your computer is called "Malvertising". It's a technique where a advertiser pops up an ad that looks like it's a security warning about your computer. When you click on that "warning", the virus or scareware is installed.

This technique is becomming more common, with a recent study concluding that 1.3 million ads are viewed per day. 1.3 MILLION!!

Here's some more information below from the ZDNet article that I read.

New research released by Dasient indicates that based on their sample, 1.3 million malicious ads are viewed per day, with 59 percent of them representing drive-by downloads, followed by 41 percent of fake security software also known as scareware

The attack vector, known as malvertising, has been increasingly trending as a tactic of choice for numerous malicious attackers, due to the wide reach of the campaign once they manage to trick a legitimate publisher into accepting it.

More findings from their research:

•The probability of a user getting infected from a malvertisement is twice as likely on a weekend and the average lifetime of a malvertisement is 7.3 days


•97% of Fortune 500 web sites are at a high risk of getting infected with malware due to external partners (such as javascript widget providers, ad networks, and/or packaged software providers)


•Fortune 500 web sites have such a high risk because 69% of them use external Javascript to render portions of their sites and 64% of them are running outdated web applications


The research’s findings are also backed up by another recently released report by Google’s Security Team, stating that fake AV is accounting for 50 percent of all malware delivered via ads.

Thanks to Dancho Danchev  for the great article.

Which web browser should I use? Not IE6

Afternoon Gang,

As web developers, the one thing that drives us nuts is the amount of users still using old web browsers. They fail to provide security and a rich experience online, and they're just plain out-dated. You just dont know what your missing when you're browsing the web. When I can across the IE6 funeral page, I couldnt help but post it up here.

Check out the Funeral site at the link below.

http://ie6funeral.com/


If you're still using IE6, please visit this site and upgrade your browser today. You wont lose any settings, and your experience online will be improved dramatically, both in security and content richness!
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/Internet-explorer/default.aspx


Thanks for stopping by,

Dave
Hughes IT Solutions

Designing with HTML 5 - What it means now.

Since Steve Job's announced to the world that Apple would never support Adobe Flash on it's mobile devices, the design world has become energized by the concepts of HTML5 and CSS3. I've seen more articles on the subject in the last 2 weeks than I've seen in the last 6 months. This momentum is slightly premature, because the majority of older browsers simply don't work with HTML 5.

Where this new standard in web design comes in handy though is when you are developing for mobile users. For the most part, modern smart phone browsers will support HTML5, which means that you can encode video on your websites that your mobile visitors should be able to watch without the use of Flash. This has been on of the biggest complaints amongst mobile users (and iPad users).

There are some extra bits of code that need to be included on the site in order to make this work, but this is just the beginning. When all the grandparents of the Internet switch from their outdated Internet browsers to something a little more up to date, I hope to see a real change in the way we view our browsing experience. It's going to be really amazing!

Hughes I.T. Solutions will be there on the forefront of HTML5 and CSS3, designing sites that are modern and standards compliant. We look forward to making your design ideas a reality. Give us a call anytime to discuss your needs and how we might be able to help!

Thanks,

Dave Nevill
Hughes I.T. Solutions Inc.
407-284-1192
dave@hughesitsolutions.com

Adobe Security Problems - What To Do?

If you use any Adobe products, like Flash Player, Adobe Reader, or Acrobat, it would be a good idea to run your updates. Several patches in the last 6 months have clearly indicated that Adobe is having trouble keeping their products safe.

Adobe Reader users could fall prey to PDFs loaded with malware warns Adobe

Adobe is working on a permanent security fix for its Adobe Reader software after a security researcher demonstrated how users could be attacked with PDF documents loaded with malware.

The attacks use the "launch" functionality of the Adobe Reader/PDF technology, with the attacker able to bypass the security warnings given to users when they choose to open PDF documents from unknown sources.

"This is a good example of powerful functionality relied upon by some users that also carries potential risks when used incorrectly by others," said Adobe in a blog on the threat.

"The warning message provided in Adobe Reader and Acrobat includes strong wording advising users to only open and execute the file if it comes from a trusted source. The default option within the dialog box is to not execute," it said.

Adobe has offered workarounds to mitigate the risk of attacks while it works on a full fix.