When we think about website malware, visible infection symptoms most often come to mind: unwanted ads or pop-ups, redirects to third party sites, or spam keywords in search results. However, in some cases these very symptoms are the results of hacktools, a diverse and often insidious category of software designed to exploit vulnerabilities and compromise […]
Tag Archives: Website Security
What Are WordPress Salts & Security Keys?
In the realm of WordPress security, there’s a powerful tag team working tirelessly behind the scenes to safeguard your website’s login process. Meet salts and security keys, the cryptographic wonders responsible for protecting the sensitive information housed within the cookies that WordPress depends on for authentication. Think about it: when you log into your WordPress […]
What is a 403 Error & How to Fix It
A 403 error can be a frustrating interruption to anyone’s day; it can lead to exasperated website visitors, even leading to lost traffic and website revenue depending on the affected page. When you (or your site visitors) encounter an unexpected 403, it’s vital to assess the issue promptly in the event that it’s the symptom […]
How to Update, Install & Remove WordPress Plugins & Themes With WP-CLI
WordPress, like other open-source content management systems, allows you to enhance your website’s appearance and functionality through custom code and third-party components like plugins and themes. It’s these extensions that allow you to publish content with added functionality for your visitors and facilitate the unique look of your brand. While the developers who build these […]
How to Secure Your Online Store: A Ecommerce Security Primer
Welcome to another installment in helping website owners secure their digital assets, this time with a focus on the world of ecommerce. If you’re an ecommerce website owner, you’re likely aware that online stores face a unique set of challenges when it comes to security. Your success hinges on the trust customers place in your […]
What Is a Keylogger?
Welcome to the world of keyloggers, where every keystroke you make may be watched, recorded, and potentially used against you! Now that we’ve got your attention, let’s dive into the somewhat unsettling realm of these sneaky little digital spies. In this blog post, we’ll uncover the mysteries behind keyloggers — what they are, how they […]
Vulnerability in Essential Addons for Elementor Leads to Mass Infection
On May 11th, 2023, the very popular WordPress plugin Essential Addons for Elementor released a patch for a critical privilege escalation vulnerability, initially discovered by PatchStack. The technical details of this vulnerability can be found on their recent blog post. Over one million websites use this plugin and the fallout from this has been absolutely […]
WordPress 6.2.1 Security & Maintenance Release
On May 16, 2023, the WordPress core team released a crucial update — WordPress 6.2.1. This latest security and maintenance release addresses a number of bug fixes and vulnerability patches, including an unauthenticated Directory Traversal vulnerability, unauthenticated Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability, and several other lower-severity vulnerabilities. To mitigate risk, we highly recommend verifying that your WordPress […]
Websites Defaced with Belarusian Bottled Water Company Content
It’s not often that we get the opportunity to write about website defacements on this blog. Defacements — where a website homepage is replaced with a hacker logo or some sort of political or religious message — are usually fairly run-of-the-mill and not particularly interesting. However, we’ve recently observed a rash of website defacements that […]
Troubleshooting ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR: How to Fix this Pesky Error in 6 Steps
As a website owner (and frequent website visitor), you might have encountered the notorious ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR at least once. This Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) error occurs when the browser fails to establish a secure connection with the website, usually due to issues with the website’s SSL certificate or its configuration or the client’s browser. The error […]
