When you think about distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, you probably envision them being carried out by experienced hackers. And while it's true that your "typical" hackers are responsible for the majority of these attacks, we are beginning to see an unsettling trend. More and more, children are launching DDoS attacks against their own schools. DDoS Attacks: Not Just for Advanced Hackers In the United Kingdom, the National Crime Agency (NCA) has seen an increase in DDoS attacks carried out against schools since the pandemic hit at the beginning of 2020. Upon further investigation, researchers determined that these attacks were not being launched by criminal masterminds. They were being spearheaded by school children themselves – some of them as young as nine years old. These attacks, which have increased in both size and scope, have been responsible for crashing school servers and causing disruption to eLearning services during the

For storage drives, you have two options, hard disk drives HDDs or solid state drives SSDs. In recent years, SSDs have received a lot of attention for their fast retrieval abilities and low failure rate. In many ways, HDDs (which used to be the gold standard for computer storage) have fallen by the wayside to SSDs. However, before you discount HDDs entirely, there are some situations where it may make more sense to choose an HDD over an SSD. Yes, SSDs Are the Future First, this isn't to say that SSDs aren't the superior option in most circumstances. When SSD technology was first introduced, it was a lot more expensive than HDD storage – and it had a lot of space limitations. However, the storage capacity for these drives has increased while prices have decreased, making them a much more popular option when compared to SSDs. Meanwhile, SSDs tend to

In January of 2021, the "HelloKitty" ransomware group first made a name for itself across the globe. During this time, the group began carrying out a number of ransomware attacks against video game developer CD Projekt Red, wreaking a great deal of havoc across the industry. Unfortunately, it seems that HelloKitty threats are still here to stay a year later. Reports are even emerging that these attacks are now incorporating a double-extortion tactic in the form of DDoS. More About HelloKitty Ransomware Threats Throughout 2021, the HelloKitty ransomware group created many problems in the gaming industry, particularly for the video game developer CD Projekt Red. Specifically, the group breached the developer's servers, stole source code for several video games, and encrypted many vital files. During this time, the attacks were purely ransomware in nature. The game developer was forced to pay a hefty ransom in exchange for the decryption of

WordPress is a popular site-building platform with more than 455 million sites across the globe. It offers a wide range of free and paid features, including "plugins" that can add new functions to an existing site. However, if you use WordPress and are experiencing site slowdowns or other technical issues, one of the first things you'll want to check on is your plugin use. This is because with too many plugins (or the wrong ones) installed, your site can suffer. What makes excessive plugins an issue on WordPress sites — and what can you do to cut back on plugins to enhance site performance? Continue reading to find out. The Problem With Excess WordPress Plugins The main thing to remember with WordPress plugins is that they're all open-source; anybody can develop and publish a plugin. This is great in many ways, but it can also create some compatibility issues because

There are many different terms that tend to come to mind when thinking about website performance. Page-loading times and speed are a couple of metrics that are often focused on as a reflection of a site's overall performance and usability. What many people don't realize, however, is that these metrics are directly influenced by something known as the critical rendering path (CRP). By honing your understanding of the CRP and why it matters, you can take the steps necessary to optimize your site's performance. What is the Critical Rendering Path? Specifically, CRP refers to the exact sequence of steps that a browser follows to convert a site's coding into actual pixels on the screen. And while there can be some variation from one browser to the next, the basic CRP is as follows: Document Object Model (DOM) - Coding is scanned and bytes are converted into characters. Tokens are identified

Suppose you're one of an estimated 2.65 billion people across the globe who uses Google Chrome to browse the web. In that case, you need to be aware of some ongoing security threats plaguing this browser — particularly in the past year. While browser attacks are not uncommon, the sheer number of security vulnerabilities discovered (and exploited by hackers) on Google Chrome in 2021 alone have been troubling. When you’re aware of these attacks and what Google is doing about them, you can take the necessary steps to keep your information secure while you browse the web. Ongoing Attacks on the Google Chrome Browser In September of 2021, Google confirmed that the number of attacks on the popular Chrome browser had been steadily increasing, with one "critical" attack confirmed. This zero-day attack, which was the 11th carried out against the browser this year, affected Windows, macOS, and Linux users. Even

When it comes to hard drive storage, you essentially have two options: hard disk drives (HDDs) and solid-state drives (SSDs). However, in recent years, there has been a gradual shift away from HDDs towards SSDs. This has become especially true as new advancements in SSD technology have emerged. Compared to other storage technologies, SSDs simply make sense from a cost, reliability, and speed standpoint. With even more SSD advancements on the horizon, it may not be long before SSDs completely overtake HDDs for hard drive storage. Benefits of SSDs Over Other Technologies As the name suggests, traditional hard disk drives store data on disks. In order to retrieve that data, the disk needs to spin until the computer can locate it physically. On the other hand, with a solid-state drive, there are no moving parts. The result is faster data retrieval, quieter operation, and lower power consumption. A Look Into

Have you considered starting a web hosting or dedicated hosting business in 2023? Then you should know about reseller hosting and the benefits that a partnership with ReliableSite will provide for you business. Application and Requirements for Partnership Reseller hosting can be a lucrative opportunity for those looking to start their own business or add a new revenue stream. Fortunately, ReliableSite released 2023 pricing for existing reseller partners. To become part of our reseller program and to see the current pricing, you must apply through our website. The criteria is simple - provide an existing website for your hosting-related services. If this is something you already have, then continue to our Partner Page and click Apply. It is free to apply and be a partner. There are no monthly fees or minimum purchase quantities. You get competitive pricing, an established network of data centers (Miami, Los Angeles and New York City

Across the healthcare field, data security is a top priority. From HIPAA laws designed to secure sensitive patient data to other safeguards, healthcare facilities have a responsibility to keep them safe. Unfortunately, there is simply too much information to take advantage of in the healthcare field — and hackers are doing just that. At ReliableSite, we've frequently discussed the necessity of dedicated servers and other security safeguards in healthcare. While the industry has made some strides, there is still a severe need for change, which is apparent by recent healthcare data breaches affecting California's Community Medical Centers Healthcare (CMC) Network. What Happened at California's Community Medical Centers Healthcare Network? In October of 2021, CMC discovered a major data breach that compromised the data of more than 650,000 patients in their system. Consequently, this data breach forced CMC's communications systems offline for more than three weeks. It was later discovered that

You might be familiar with ransomware attacks and phishing scams, both of which have become increasingly common in recent years. However, one type of attack that you may not have heard of is vishing. Unfortunately, vishing attacks have been on the rise in recent months — and more people are falling victim to them. What is vishing, and what are the dangers of this type of attack? What steps can you take to protect yourself? We've got all the answers to these questions and more below. What is Vishing? Even if you haven't explicitly heard the term "vishing" before, there's a good chance you already understand the concept. Specifically, vishing is an attack that aims to trick you into providing your personal/sensitive information to scammers over the phone. This could include anything from credit card and bank information to personal data, such as a Social Security number or a password.