Hello.

For years we used a company called www.virtualpbx.com for our voicemail system.  It's an excellent way to have a virtual phone system to route calls to different physical locations and cell phones.  We used that company for over 9 years.

Recently we switched Website Forge (888-558-2446) to a company called www.voiceshot.com .  We switched becuase Voiceshot offers something that VirtualPBX didn't.  A programming API.  I want to make sure I tell you that VirtualPBX is a MUCH better choice if you need a good phone system without a programming API.

A programming API will allow us to offer some enhanced support features to our customers.  First when you call in and hit support (option 2), we can access your account and do some basic troubleshooting BEFORE you talk to a technician.  For instance we can detect expired domains, full mailboxes, and other common support issues instantly.

This API will allow us to provide online billing information like your last payment date, oustanding balances, and when to expect the next charge on your credit card.

We also can create OUTBOUND call campaigns for mass notifications and marketing.

Right now we have the system configured with the basics.  We are adding these enhanced support features over the next few months.

I also wanted to share this with you because this same service might be useful to your business.  If you are interested in a database driven, interactive, virtual phone system -- let us know and I'll share my new knowledge.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website Design and E-commerce

Hello.

As many of you are aware.  DDOS attacks on the K2 Gaming network recently caused some service outtages.  Since then, new attack detection systems are in place.  Throughout the week the network was attacked a couple times with ZERO service interruption.  This morning at around 11:18 am EST an attack caused a very brief service interruption.  The service was restored in about 15 minutes.  This includes the drive time of high-level engineers.  Without the detection system finding the attack source and destination took much more time.

The attack detection system is now configured to mitigate similar attacks without human intervention.  The attack detection system can and will be adjusted to mitigate new types of attacks -- usually without downtime.  Additional hardware and routing upgrades will further secure the networks from such issues.

I will keep communicating to you with updates. 

Thanks,

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com

My first urge is to rant and rave about the ridiculous marketing scheme that Microsoft put together to force people to spend hundreds of dollars for the EV (Extended Validation) certificate.  However I already did that in this article .

This posting is to inform you, our Website Forge customers, that we have bit the bullet and purchased the EV certificate.  This means that your web sites will always report as completely safe (by Microsoft's standards anyway).

There is an important technical item that I must share with you.   Of course when we installed the certificate we all opened the latest Internet Explorer 7 browser, slammed an item in a shopping cart and looked for the "GREEN BAR" that is supposed to be there.  To our total dissatisfaction the green bar did not show up.  After calling a few people we found that some browers wouldn't turn green.

Here is an article I found explaining that if you change ANY settings in your IE 7 -- the green bar will not glow.  I have no idea why this is.  I'll let everyone know as soon as we find out why.

If your browser doesn't "GO GREEN" read this article for the explanation.  Please don't yell at us -- Its not our fault :)

http://forums.microsoft.com/MSDN/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1369032&SiteID=1

Anyhow, please enjoy your updated web site security and maybe take advantage of Microsoft's marketing machine and advertise the upgraded security to your prospective customers.

Have a great Easter weekend!

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website Design and E-commerce

I have had wireless internet devices since the very first RIM Blackberry.  In fact my Blackberry was listed as "MICH2".  Maybe it was the 2nd one in Michigan.

When Verizon came out with 1xx 56k wireless. I had it.

When Nextel had their very slow wireless card.  I had it.

Year after year wireless internet has become better and better.

Currently the two wireless internet technologies are called EVDO and 3G networks.  Verizon, Nextel (Sprint), and Cingular offer cards you can plug into your laptop and get great internet connectivity at very good speeds just about anywhere these days.  Some speeds are pretty close to broadband speeds and usually much better than DSL.

Here is what a cellular broadband card might look like:

NOW, to make this even sweeter -- you can purchase a real neat gadget called a "Cellular Wi-Fi Router".   Here is just one example:

http://sewelldirect.com/3g-phoebus-cellular-wi-fi-router.asp

This cool device will allow you to connect any number of wi-fi computers or laptops to the internet using your cellular internet card.  So instead of plugging the Verizon, Nextel, or Cingular card directly into ONE machine.  Plug it into this device and share the internet with any machine that has standard wi-fi wireless access.

So here is where the freedom kicks in!  you can:

*  Drive across the US with full high-speed internet access for as many laptops as you can fit into your car
*  Take full wi-fi wireless access with you camping
*  Have high speed internet in areas where DSL or Cable is not available or accessible
*  Have an emergency backup system to put your office back online when your cable, dsl, or T-1 lines are down
*  Just be the coolest geek in the group

Lets face it.  One of the perks of running a web based company is that you can work from anywhere!  So start doing it!

I hope you find this information useful.  I'll post a couple more wireless internet access tricks in the near future.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com
Website Design and E-commerce

I want to share a communication from the CEO of Intelenet.  Intelenet is basically an ISP's ISP.  Meaning a large provider of service to many large companies including ours.  I'm sharing this to help you understand the resources that have been involved in assuring the recent issues are resolved.  

Please understand this attack was not directed to Website Forge or our customers.  However the ripple effect of such an attack can cause other equipment within an associated network to become sluggish.  So the named security measures will help reduce the chance of an attack affecting the speed of our network connectivity. 

Here is an excerpt from an email sent to me today:

------------------------------------------------------------------
Starting Friday, March 30th, InteleNet experienced a number of very
sophisticated Internet-wide DDOS attacks, including TCP SYN, HTTP flood,
UDP flood, etc., to some of our network infrastructure. The attacks were
directed to our different infrastructure devices such as routers, DNS
server, Mail servers, etc.  Also, some of our customers were directly
targeted.  As our engineers worked to mitigate and block each attack,
the type, magnitude, and the destination of each new attack changed so
additional countermeasures had to be put in place.  

Over the last few days, InteleNet engineers in conjunction with our
network vendors such as Cisco and some of our IPS providers we were able
to block the attacks and start working the in infrastructure changes to
allow better protection of potential vulnerable public services.  
InteleNet, its engineering staff, and security consultants have been
working around the clock to rectify these problems and have been able to
stabilize the network.   You can be certain that this attack was
immediately escalated to InteleNet?s highest level and that it availed
itself of every possible resource to solve these serious attacks.

In going forward, we have also been working with our security and
network vendors to quickly deploy the latest technology in preventing
DDOS attacks as well as a major upgrade of our network infrastructure
with the latest Cisco equipment.  InteleNet is reviewing additional
infrastructure and security solutions that will ensure that any future
attacks do not compromise our network.  You will receive additional
communications in the next few weeks on when you can except these major
network upgrades.  

On a personal note, I know these issues have had an impact on your
business and I am very sensitive to the nature of that impact.  I want
to give you my personal assurance that I, and InteleNet, take these
issues extremely seriously and it is our absolute highest priority to
increase the resilience of our network so issues like this are kept to
an absolute minimum.

Sincerely,

Mark E. Towfiq
President & CEO
InteleNet Communications, Inc.

------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank You

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com

I regret to report that some of you experienced service issues yesterday because of another DDOS (Denial of Service attack) by hackers.  (click here for previous post about the same)

Website Forge nor Website Forge customers were the target of this attack.  However the target is located in the same data center. This is why your service was affected.

I cannot name the companies -- however there are many large companies that house their servers at the same location we do.  Hackers are known to pick large targets when they attack for the maximum effect.

What are we doing about it?  Well we can only rely in the expertise in our data center.  They are relocating and re-routing the "target" servers to parts of the data center that will have the least effect on other companies like ours.

There is immense pressure to get this resolved very quickly -- A large cyber-attack like this one is something that you can only react to and learn from. 

I will keep everyone posted as we find the final resolution of this issue. 

FYI.  The DOS attack happened again this morning as I was writing this BLOG post and was resolved by our data center in about 3 minutes.  So this indicates we are on track for a full resolution. 

Thanks for your patience.

Shane Merem
www.websiteforge.com