WordPress 4.7 was recently released, and as always, we’ve updated our WordPress one-click installer to automatically install the latest version for new WordPress sites.
If you’ve previously installed an older version of WordPress, you should update it from within your WordPress Dashboard.
The PHP developers recently released versions 7.0.13 and 5.6.28 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded the PHP 7.0 and 5.6 series on our servers as a result.
The PHP developers recently released versions 7.0.12 and 5.6.27 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded the PHP 7.0 and 5.6 series on our servers as a result.
For the PHP 5.6 and 7.0 series, we’ve also updated ionCube Loader to the current version 6.0.6, and SourceGuardian Loader to the current version 11.
These changes should not be noticeable, but in the unlikely event you experience any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.
The authors of the Joomla software announced that Joomla versions 3.4.4 through 3.6.3 have a critical security bug that allows “hackers” to take over a site by adding new administrative users (CVE-2016-8869).
The best solution for Joomla users is to update to version 3.6.4 immediately. However, we also added a rule to our servers this morning to block this attack. The rule should ensure that if you use our hosting service, hackers won’t be able to take advantage of this bug.
(And a tip o’ the hat to security researcher Melvin Lammerts, who published detailed technical information of the bug that allowed us to do this more quickly than usual.)
The PHP developers recently released versions 7.0.11 and 5.6.26 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded the PHP 7.0 and 5.6 series on our servers as a result.
These changes should not be noticeable, but in the unlikely event you experience any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.
In addition, the ionCube Loader software is now compatible with PHP 7, so we’ve enabled that option in the “PHP Settings” section of our My Account control panel.
The authors of the Mailman mailing list software we provide for customers have recently released version 2.1.23 to fix several bugs.
We’ve upgraded the Mailman software on our servers as a result.
Users of Mailman lists shouldn’t notice any changes, but as always, don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or see any problems.
The PHP developers recently released versions 7.0.10 and 5.6.25 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded the PHP 7.0 and 5.6 series on our servers as a result.
These changes should not be noticeable, but in the unlikely event you experience any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.
One of the features of our hosting plans is the ability for technically advanced customers to use the Unix (Linux) command-line shell.
Until now, there have been two ways to connect to the shell: you could use telnet, or use SSH (which stands for “secure shell”).
The older telnet method dates to 1969 (that’s not a typo) and is not secure: it sends your account password without any encryption, allowing it to be seen by eavesdroppers on your local network (such as other people in a Wi-Fi cafe).
SSH, as you can guess from the “secure” in its name, fixes this — and more: Anything you can do with telnet, you can do with SSH.
Telnet should never be used anymore. Everyone should always use SSH. We have a page explaining how to use SSH with your site.
Our logs show that almost all of our customers are already using SSH instead of telnet. Because of that, and because there are several ongoing “denial of service” attacks involving telnet, we’re disabling telnet as a shell connection method to increase the security of our servers. Please use SSH instead.
Don’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Between 8:52 and 9:03 AM Pacific time today (August 10, 2016), some sites we host experienced an interruption of service. The problem is resolved, and will not recur.
The PHP developers recently released versions 7.0.9, 5.6.24 and 5.5.38 that fix several bugs. We’ve upgraded the PHP 7.0, 5.6 and 5.5 series on our servers as a result.
These changes should not be noticeable, but in the unlikely event you experience any trouble, don’t hesitate to contact us.
