“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!

In an effort to address any concerns you may have about the GDPR legislation, and how it effects you as a website owner, here are the Cliff notes:

• If your website collects any data, such as through a contact form, survey, newsletter sign-up, ecommerce transaction, event registration and some website analytics, the new regulation may apply to you.
• The legislation is intended to protect citizens of the European Union, but if you interact with any European site visitors, this regulation applies to you.
• Your website visitors who are EU citizens must provide you with consent to collect their information and they have the right to access their information, if desired.
• If a user who is an EU citizen, wants to remove their information, you must thoroughly comply.

Based on the above, here are the updates you may need to make to your website:

• Make sure your site includes a Privacy Policy and be completely transparent.
  • State what data you collect and why.
  • State what you do with the data.
  • State where the data is stored.
  • State your process for deleting content, when requested.
• For subscriptions, use double opt-in steps.
• For email blasts, include a footer that defines why they are included in the mailing.
• For ecommerce transactions, allow customers to opt-in to a mailing list rather than auto-enroll their email as part of the transaction.
• Ensure your website plug-ins are GDPR-compliant.

Once you complete your website updates, and if you make substantial changes to your privacy policy, you may choose to  email your mailing list.  If you have EU citizens on your mailing list, you may need to email them to get a consent to continue emailing them.  You do not need to email non-EU citizens, and if you can segment your list by country, you can ONLY email the EU.

If you would like assistance with ensuring your website is GDPR-compliant, contact us.  We will review your website and provide you with an estimate.

Please note that Project 18, Inc. is not providing legal advice on this subject and be aware that there are penalties for non-compliance.