Author Archives: Stern

2020 Webby Awards

Each year The Webby Awards opens our eyes to the art of the internet.  There is such amazing work being done to convey our online learning and conversations.  We continue to discover new techniques and bad ideas, only helping to keep those of us in the business, on our toes.  Take a look.

Staying Proactive – Update Your Plugins

 

“Look before, or you’ll find yourself behind.”

~Benjamin Franklin

For some, this stay in place moment is a welcome change of pace. For some, this public health moment is a complete upset of the apple cart. No matter what, these circumstances have and will change our behavior. For Project 18, we are busy bees!!

Like during the holiday season, there is now increased Internet traffic. There is an increase of online purchases. Everyone is relying on the Internet for everything!! Unfortunately, with this comes activity that is not always positive. We don’t all have the same objectives and code of ethics. A lot of the problems are inevitable and out of our control, but we can be smart about it.

I am writing to alert you to the fact that we are seeing an uptick in malicious attacks against websites. Malicious scripts are coded that send attempts to access and insert content into your website. These scripts look for ‘holes’ in your website where they can enter undetected. To prevent this, it is extremely important to keep your plugins updated. All it takes is one website where a ‘hole’ is detected and then all of those same plugin installations on other sites become targets.

I am not sharing this information to scare you, as most of you are on top of things as it relates to plugin updates. Some are also running firewalls to protect from this type of activity. I just wouldn’t be considered your professional web partner if I didn’t keep you on my radar.

Today, please update your plugins and your admin password. If you need assistance, you know where to find me.

Stay well and keep smiling. It’s the best medicine.

Karen Stern
Chief Bee

If you want to learn more, read this!