Best Cheap Web Hosting

/EINPresswire.com/ -- SANTA FE, NM--(Marketwired - August 03, 2016) - CrowdReviews.com, a platform for reviewing and ranking web hosting providers, has released a set of tips assisting buyers of web hosting services in finding the right hosting solution for their needs. The tips outline the best practices to follow in order to identify the web hosting companies which most consistently meet the expectations of their customers. While the tips can help reduce the risk of dissatisfaction, they are not a guaranteed set of guidelines to find the perfect web hosting company.

First, CrowdReviews.com recommends that buyers consider web hosting companies which have a history of in-depth reviews written by actual customers. With the Internet becoming a primary resource for research, it has also become an opportunity for many companies to create reviews which may be biased towards the side of the provider. It is recommended for buyers to not only try to identify reviews which may be critical of web hosting companies, but to utilize multiple reviews and resources. Many web hosting companies will include testimonials on their website; CrowdReviews.com provides reviews on vendor profiles with the distinction on whether the review is written by a customer, employee, competitor, or an anonymous user.

It is also recommended for buyers to better identify their needs and objectives with web hosting services and to compare different offerings based on the software they make available, the level of hosting being provided, and information about the hosting environment. Not every web hosting company offers the same level of support or the same specifications for the hosting environment. It is important to understand what a website needs and whether the web hosting company is able to meet those requirements.

Those looking for effective web hosting companies can visit:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/ratings-of-best-web-hosting-companies-based-on-user-reviews

Those interested in joining CrowdReviews.com can visit the following page to register or claim their profile:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/#registration

About CrowdReviews.com

CrowdReviews.com is a crowdreviewing platform which ranks over 500 software categories and 200 service categories.

Contact InformationSamuel Powers941-257-4559530-B Harkle Road,STE 100,Santa Fe, NM 87505

Source: CrowdReviews.com Announces Guide for Selecting Web Hosting Companies

UK-based all-around Web hosting firm 123-Reg has been under a massive DDoS attack today that has affected a wide range of its services.

According to a statement from the company, the attack started today at around 10:00 AM, London time, and has continued through the day for at least a few hours, before letting up.

The attack peaked at 30 Gbps, according to a 123-Reg spokesperson, which is quite a considerable value, despite the all-time DDoS attack record being 579 Gbps recorded in the first half of this year.

The high numbers reported by the media when it comes to DDoS attacks sometimes makes you forget that a DDoS attack larger than 1 Gbps is more than enough to down any Web service.

A 30 Gbps DDoS attack was more than the attackers needed to affect 123-Reg's infrastructure, with clients reporting difficulties in accessing their hosting account control panels, email accounts, and even some of their website frontends.

"Our protection systems kicked in and were able to curtail the majority of the attack," the 123-Reg support team wrote. "Our system teams jumped on board and reconfigured the network routing to assist."

Nevertheless, the attack wasn't completely mitigated, and 123-Reg customers continued to complain via Twitter.

Hackers have recently started using DDoS attacks as a method of blackmailing companies forBitcoin, which can explain why somebody would try to launch such an attack against a neutral entity such as 123-Reg.

Source: UK Hosting Firm Downed in 30 Gbps DDoS Attack

Your choice of web host is vital to your success online. A poor web host can impact your bottom line by slowing your website, causing frequent downtime, and overall contributing to a poor customer experience.

Jumping in with the first host you find can prove to be a huge mistake. Here are six other mistakes to avoid when choosing a web host.

Mistake #1: Choosing a Free Host

While free hosting sounds great for your wallet, it's only going to cause issues in the long-run. Some problems you may encounter include:

Your host may place unsolicited 3rd party advertisements on your site.

You may experience slow loading speeds.

You may not be able to scale your website as your business grows.

You may not be able to run certain scripts.

You may take a hit in search engine optimization.

Take the example of WordPress.com. Though WordPress is a strong blog-building platform, the free hosting option limits the WordPress software, and they reserve the right to place ads on your site.

Long story short, you will sacrifice control over your site and won't end up with the quality service you were looking for if you choose a free web host.

Mistake #2: Not Reading Hosting Reviews

It's easy to find a hosting package that sounds perfect for you without doing much research. But is that package all it's cracked up to be? To get the best idea of which company will give you the best bang for your buck, read web hosting reviews. Keep an eye out for:

Customer service complaints

Issues with downtime or slow loading speeds

Complaints about security problems

If all you find is raving reviews, that's not a good sign, either. It could mean that the hosting company has paid to fill the Internet with positive reviews. A good place to start is to read reviews from technical writers who have first-hand experience testing out various hosting companies and website builders.

Mistake #3: Not Researching Restrictions

If a hosting package sounds too good to be true, it probably is. That's not to say that the company is lying to you; it may just be that it sounds great on the surface but there's more information in the fine print.For example, they might say you get "unlimited" bandwidth. When you dig deeper, you'll find that "unlimited" actually comes with some limiting factors. For example, as you begin to approach a certain bandwidth limit, the company may start to throttle you and slow your site.

Other restrictions to watch out for include:

No installation of your own software

No SSH

No multiple POP accounts

You won't usually find these restrictions explicitly stated, so you may have to do some digging on their site or call and talk to a representative for more information.

Mistake #4: Not Testing Out Customer Service

Throughout the life of your website, there's a good chance you'll end up talking to your host's customer service for one issue or another. A poor customer service department means you may be left struggling through your problems on your own.

Although they may advertise 24/7 support, that may not actually be the case. Before signing up with a host, test out their customer service. Come up with a list of questions about their company that aren't answered on their website. Then, test out each contact option—email, phone, live chat, etc.—by sending in one of your questions.

Of course, if you're a new customer, there's a good chance they'll respond quickly in hopes of getting you to sign up.

Therefore, it's a good idea to take your search a step further to see if they're actually as good as they say they are. Here are some ideas:

Going back to mistake #2, make sure you're reading reviews and listening to what people say about the company's customer support.

Email a few of their current clients to get an idea of their opinions on working with the company.

Look through the support message board to see how long it takes for the company to respond and how kindly they respond to users' questions.

Mistake #5: Choosing a Host with No Refund Guarantee

Even after reading through reviews or testing out a company's customer service, there's no guarantee they'll be the host for you. Choosing a host with a refund policy means that if you change your mind about your host, you won't have to throw all your money away. It also provides a sense of security if your site grows and you need to switch to a host who can accommodate your needs.

Be sure to read through the refund policy thoroughly so you understand the terms and conditions. For example, some hosts might only offer a refund after a certain amount of time. Others will only offer a pro-rated refund instead of the whole cost of the package.

Mistake #6: Choosing the Wrong Hosting Package

Once you have a host in mind, a common mistake is choosing the wrong web hosting package. The cheapest shared hosting plans are for small sites that are just starting out. It may be better to start with a better package to begin with if your business already has a following or if you expect your traffic to grow quickly.

It's not just the size of your site that matters, though. It's also important to pay attention to the features offered with your hosting package. For example, the cheapest package might not offer email support, an SSL certificate, domain privacy, or a myriad of other features that your business website may need.

On the flip side, there's no need to go with a dedicated hosting package and purchase all the extra add-ons if you're running a small personal blog.

Be conscious of what features you need before you choose a hosting package. Luckily, most hosts make it easy to upgrade your account as your site grows.

Avoiding these six mistakes will make your search for the perfect host much easier. Start by thoroughly researching potential hosts and comparing them to decide which one is right for you.

About the author:Robert is web developer and designer who helps small businesses and non-profit organizations to build better websites. If you need his opinion or help, you can reach him on Twitter.

Source: 6 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing a Web Host

It's no secret the dark web is where bad guys go to conduct business.

But beyond being the place where cybercriminals share information and buy/sell illicit goods (stolen information, counterfeits, drugs, weapons, etc.), the dark web can also serve as a key resource for the above ground business to understand what is of value to others – and how to quantify the value an organisation places on its data.

When people discuss dark web markets, they tend to focus on payment cards; however, criminals are able to monetise a variety of different types of personal information, account credentials, and other stolen data.

Over just the past week SurfWatch Labs has observed the following items for sale on the dark web:

Gift cards for a variety of ecommerce sites, retailers, and other services selling for around half price or less, including $1000 gift cards for major airlines available for $600.

Logins details for video streaming services including Netflix for $1, Hulu for $2.50 and HBO Now for $4.

Paypal and bank accounts selling for around 10 per cent of their balance; PayPal accounts with a $200 balance were priced at $20 and bank accounts with a $11,000 balance cost around $1000.

Personal information such as scanned bank account statements, which were selling for $60.

Hacked reward accounts from a variety of providers, including an airline's reward account with a million points selling for $300.

 Stolen payment card data is also readily available on the dark web. This seller is selling compromised card information for $11.95, although buyers can get a better deal if they buy the cards in bulk.

Other cybercrime-related items for sale include pirated media, hacking services and software exploits. For example, our threat intelligence analysts recently came across a seller offering what he claimed was a new Microsoft Office zero day exploit for 40 bitcoins – or around $23,000.

Internal vs. External Threat Intelligence

Awareness of what is being sold on the dark web provides crucial insight into what cybercriminals are currently targeting – and what they're likely to target in the future. Understanding the types of information for sale on the dark web related to your customers, your infrastructure, your supply chain and your competitors can help cut through the overwhelming amount of cybersecurity noise in order to focus resources on the threats that really matter – to see the forest from the trees, as the saying goes.

This is the crucial difference between external and internal threat intelligence. Internal threat intelligence is necessary for tactical defense. It's necessary for detecting and preventing threats, for responding to incidents, and for understanding what is happening inside your own network.

External threat intelligence looks outside the organisation's walls for relevant cyber activity trends facing similar types of organisations to better plan and prepare for impending threats to the business. This intelligence can provide the strategic insight necessary to direct resources and help guide internal tools and processes towards reducing an organisation's cyber risk. For example, if dark web intelligence reveals that gift card fraud is heavily impacting your organisation or others in your sector, resources can be directed towards discovering the cause of that fraud and implementing tactics to plug those weaknesses. Is the fraud due to skimmers making counterfeit cards, an insider stealing and selling cards, a third-party data leak, or something else?

Relevant, timely and accurate external threat intelligence can help to provide the context necessary to better act on your organisation's internal data. It can help to answer questions such as:

What potential threats exist and which of them are currently occurring in my industry?

How often do those threats occur?

Are the threats changing over time?

What threats affect my partners, supply chain and competitors?

Who is likely to attack us and why?

Do our controls mitigate that vulnerability? Are we applying the right resources to the right controls?

How would control failures impact the business?

Are there different threats to different lines of business?

In essence, this external intelligence can provide the high-level strategic insight necessary to better direct limited cyber resources and more effectively reduce the cyber risk facing your organisation.

Taking Action on Threat Intelligence

As a real-world example of this threat intelligence process in action, SurfWatch Labs recently observed an actor going by the name of AlphaLeon discussing his cybercrime operations on a dark web forum. Additional research helped to confirm that web hosting provider Invision Power Services was compromised by AlphaLeon, and that once AlphaLeon executed his code, web forum users on some professional sports leagues as well as major media and entertainment companies would be breached. In summary, the intelligence led to the threat being eradicated before it could be executed.

This is an example of external threat intelligence being used to directly drive changes to an organisation's internal security and infrastructure by identifying a cyber threat before it spreads either further into the organisation or on to others in the supply chain. Identifying active threats such as compromised employee email accounts, stolen payment cards tied to a particular organisation and other indicators can help to limit the potential damage of a cyber incident.

As many studies have noted, a significant percentage of breaches go undetected by the affected organisation and are instead discovered by various third parties. Threat intelligence can help to identify a threat before a breach occurs or shorten the window between breach and discovery.

Adam Meyer, chief security strategist, SurfWatch Labs

Image source: Shutterstock/BeeBright

Leave a comment on this article
Source: What's that worth? Find out on the Dark Web

/EINPresswire.com/ -- SANTA FE, NM--(Marketwired - August 01, 2016) - CrowdReviews.com, a platform for reviewing and ranking web hosting companies, has announced Rad Web Hosting as the best website hosting service based on user reviews. Rad Web Hosting achieved the top spot as the leading web hosting company as a result of reviews made public on their profile. Web hosting companies are invited to invite their customers to leave reviews detailing their experience with the web hosting services being provided.

The rankings on CrowdReviews.com are determined based on a transparent algorithm. This algorithm takes into consideration a number of elements including 5 primary factors which providers can improve in order to improve their placement in the rankings. These five factors include review strength, sentiment strength, engagement strength, profile strength, and verified status. Providers and customers alike can review the factors used to determine placement on the ranking at the link provided below:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/how-do-we-rank

CrowdReviews.com encourages reviewers to attach a LinkedIn profile when leaving a review in order to add additional credence to their review, allowing for visitors to ensure that a review was written by a real person. Reviewers are able to choose whether to attach their profile to a recommendation, or to leave a review anonymously. While the choice to leave a review anonymously is available, more weight is placed on reviews made by those which attach their name to their review. Others are able to leave a comment or ask a question to reviewers as well, enabling companies to communicate with reviewers.

To view the rankings of the best web hosting companies visit:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/ratings-of-best-web-hosting-companies-based-on-user-reviews

Those interested in joining CrowdReviews.com can visit the following page to register or claim their profile:

http://www.crowdreviews.com/#registration

About CrowdReviews.com

CrowdReviews.com is a crowdreviewing platform which ranks over 500 software categories and 200 service categories.

Contact InformationSamuel Powers941-257-4559530-B Harkle Road,STE 100,Santa Fe, NM 87505

Source: Rad Web Hosting Awarded Best Web Hosting Company on CrowdReviews.com