Sayonara Net Neutrality
AT&T’s push to offer sponsored data greater and faster access over their network has made it a highlighted debate. Passed by the FCC, it is disconcerting for many but as Dave Davies mentioned it’s under major scrutiny and in his opinion, the FCC is arguably the right man for the job. As long as the government’s hands are free from control of net neutrality the FCC is the proper organization, and we’re all better off having the control in their hands rather than in the hands of somebody who doesn’t totally understand the industry.
My favorite quote of Dave’s was; “Who would want Senator Ted Stevens making policies on how your internet tubes should work? “ The real question is; are consumers’ needs being taken care of? Jim’s argument is that the usability of the internet will be harmed in the long run. Dave returns saying; “Innovation in technologies and packages that are created to support these changes will obviously open up more economic possibilities.” The debate is yours but it looks as if your say is not important anymore.
Hackology
The boys are back on air for the inaugural webmaster New Year. Unfortunately, for some it wasn’t all that happy of a new year including for our host Jim Hedger. Clayton Gardner from Canhost Inc. joins the team to explain what the heck happened that dreadful day Jim had his WordPress site hacked.
Canhost, a Kelowna based company, headed the counter attack against the Jim’s hack. A WordPress compromise that hit multiple different servers, like the one Jim was on as well as many out of date plug-ins were targeted. Clayton mentioned that the hacker took control of the user’s admin passes making it unmanageable because of how deep the perpetrator was. The Number one bit of advice is as simple as keeping WordPress updates, up to date. Most importantly, with 74 million WordPress site installs, keep a keen eye on the plugins you place on your site. You could be potentially placing 74 million sites into a vulnerable position. The question is; how to choose the right plug in? The answer is plainly to make sure it comes from a reputable site – spend some time on the background.
Unfortunately, Jim’s reputable plugin was from Yoast but got compromised between the time the plug in was updated from the company Yoast. The truth is the developers of plugins have to beware of their products and holes in the system. It was a matter of being a little too late in Yoast’s position.
Canhost made sure that all their clients were taken care of by going above and beyond ensuring the situation was handled. Over a straight 48 hours were spent to rectify the situation, but Canhost made it happen. Luckily enough, customer service like this pulled their clients and Jim out of the hack.
Sumcology
Ask yourself if Net Neutrality is important for you
Update your WordPress plug-ins and make sure they’re a clean add on
Go listen to the show