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WiFi Hotspot or Hackspot?
People everywhere enjoy having a hot cup of coffee or tea, and what better place to have it than at a nice cafe with WiFi. Grab a cup, get the common password, and login with your laptop or smartphone and relax. Not so fast! Instead of logging into a hotspot, you may have just logged into a hackspot. That nice looking gentleman two tables away may have just captured your login credentials and other private information.
WiFi hotspots that are open, or use a common shared password, pose a significant security risk. In most cases, unless you have a unique login to the WiFi hotspot your traffic can be captured by hackers connected to the hotspot and running eavesdropping software. These software programs are designed to collect all traffic and even display other user’s login credentials to web sites they visit. Unless your traffic is encrypted, you are at risk.
So how do you protect yourself? Security experts have several recommendations for using at risk hotspots.
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Avoid logging in to non-SSL sites – All legitimate commerce sites and most of the popular social media sites use SSL to encrypt traffic to and from their site. Unless you see the lock icon and https at the beginning of the URL in your browser, DO NOT login to the site – your information is being transmitted in clear text and can be captured by a hacker using the hotspot.
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Make sure your sites use SSL – If you are a mobile worker and access your own sites and applications remotely, you should make sure that your private pages are using SSL. All traffic to and from SSL secured pages will be encrypted, resulting in a high level of security.
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Use a VPN – A virtual private network (VPN) can be used to encrypt traffic to and from your computer or smartphone and other devices on the Internet. A VPN can work in two modes – as a pass through or as a secure point to point tunnel. For the pass through mode, you would buy a VPN service which acts as a gateway to the Internet from the provider of the VPN. In this mode, your traffic is only encrypted between you and the VPN provider. The point to point tunnel mode is used when you want to create an encrypted channel between your users and devices and your sites and servers at your hosting provider or data center.
These are three popular recommendations for using public WiFi networks. We recommend that you learn as much as you can about security for your computers and smartphones, for your own protection.
If you are interested in taking advantage of special offers on SSL certificates and VPN services, check out our LATEST PROMOTIONS in this newsletter. If you have any questions on these services, contact sales@eapps.com.
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Bitcoin – New Money or Big Gamble?
A hot topic as of late is Bitcoin, a digital currency. It is based on an open source, peer-to-peer Internet protocol. The idea behind it is that society needs a form of money that is not controlled by a central bank or organization. The growth in the supply of bitcoins is automated, and given to “miners,” which are computers devoted by people to solve complex computational problems. The miners are in competition with each other to acquire the pre-determined number of newly generated bitcoins. This approach guarantees a steady, known, increase in the supply.
The currency can be exchanged using a digital wallet, through a computer or smartphone over the peer-to-peer network without requiring a financial intermediary. Bitcoin is the most widely used alternative currency, and is slowly gaining acceptance by various merchants and vendors internationally. As of March 2013, the total value of all bitcoins in existence exceeded one billion USD.
In addition to being an easy to use medium of exchange, Bitcoin is popular for two reasons. First, at a time when many governments all over the world are engaged in printing money, often referred to as quantitative easing, some people fear that rampant inflation will eventually devalue their hard earned savings. Since the supply of bitcoins is tightly controlled, devaluation will not occur. People can exchange some of their traditional money for bitcoins as protection against inflation. The second, and some say more popular reason, is that bitcoins are speculative. They are worth what people will pay, through the exchange of their traditional money. At this time it is estimated that most holders of bitcoins are doing so for speculative reasons. In fact, the value of bitcoins has increased significantly in the first few months of 2013, fueled by speculation.
The future of Bitcoin is uncertain. But the notion that the world needs an easy to use, decentralized currency that is not subject to the whims of politicians is powerful. It may, or may not, be wise to buy bitcoins, but it certainly will be interesting to watch the evolution of this new form of money.
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Q&A: Level One Sites, provider of solutions for CrossFit franchise owners
Level One Sites is the leading provider of software solutions for Reebok/CrossFit franchise owners. The company, co-founded by serial entrepreneurs Scott Martin and Vin McCauley, provides the best solution for the management of a CrossFit franchise and now serves customers throughout the USA and has a growing presence internationally. Level One Sites chose eApps Hosting as their hosting infrastructure partner in March of 2012.
Scott and Vin, who reside in the greater Boston area, first built a custom solution for CrossFit Wicked, referred to them by Vin’s wife, who worked out at the gym where the operator was located. The site was a big hit and word spread fast to other CrossFit operators. Before long Scott and Vin were deploying CrossFit sites to a growing number of franchise owners.
eApps reached out to Level One Sites to see if they needed any help with their deployments. Together, the two companies worked out a more streamlined process using a pre-built template for Level One Site’s software. eApps now handles the deployment for new customers by using the template to establish the base for the software, saving time.
For more information, read the full Q&A session on the eApps blog.
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Let us know how we are doing!
We learn from our customers every day. We welcome your feedback!!! Send us an Email!
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IN THIS ISSUE
![]() WiFi Hotspot or Hackspot? - Secure mobile computing
![]() Bitcoin – New Money or Big Gamble?
![]() Q&A - eApps customer Level One Sites, provider of solutions for CrossFit franchise owners
![]() New Promos – Brought to
you by APPY – our mascot!
![]() Tech Tip – Using a VPN to Secure your Development Servers
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LATEST PROMOTIONS
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Free VPN Setup
For a limited time only you can take advantage of our FREE VPN Setup & Configuration Promotion.
Choose between Remote Client or Site to Site configurations. For more information click here or send an email to sales@eapps.com.
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50% OFF – SSL Certificates
Now, through May 31st, take 50% OFF of the price of GlobalSign Domain SSL and GlobalSign Domain Wildcard SSL Certificates.
For more information, click here, or go to our Store and use Promotion Code:
DXY5G73
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Promotions in this newsletter are valid through May 31, 2013 and are not retroactive
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TECH TIP
Use a VPN to Secure your Development Servers
Did you know that a Virtual Private Network (VPN) can be used to secure your development environment? First, establish your development server(s) using the eApps Virtual Machine in the Cloud service. Our Cloud based Virtual Machines (VM) are excellent for development. Then add the eApps IPsec compatible VPN service.The VPN service will provide an encrypted tunnel between your development server(s) at eApps and your developer’s computing devices, including smart phones.
Our VPN service uses the IPsec compatible Vyatta Network OS running in a Virtual Machine. Think of it as a software based security appliance. Go to Create-A-Cloud.com and select the smallest popular bundle. Increase the RAM to 1 GB and choose the Vyatta Network OS from the OS Templates drop down list. You will soon have your own VPN for less than $20 per month.
Your VPN can be configured to secure your entire development server, an entire application, or part of an application. The VPN provides security and flexibility. For example, you can secure the entire application, preventing outside access while development is in progress. When it is time to go live, you can open the public facing part of the application, and keep the administrative part secured.
If you have any questions or would like to discuss how an eApps VPN can be used to secure your development environment, please contact sales@eapps.com.
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