Dell has cut a huge AU$1,050 off the asking price of its G7 17 gaming laptop, bringing the total price down to just AU$2,449.
If you’re a gamer, you’ll appreciate the G7’s excellent performance thanks to its i7 CPU paired with robust Nvidia RTX 2070 graphics. A relatively low resolution 1080p screen runs at an exceptionally high 144Hz, so you should easily see silky smooth gaming approaching the maximum frames per second this screen is capable of running.
It’s also great for casual use as well as productivity, boasting 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and a 9th-generation six-core Intel Core i7 processor.
This laptop would suit those who identify themselves as an ‘active gamer’ that requires a new rig to not only play their favourite titles but also to perform a range of other tasks.
If that sounds like you, the Dell G7 17 is definitely a machine worth considering (especially with the enormous AU$1,050 discount).
No code is required to receive the generous discount, meaning you simply have to head to Dell’s online store to secure yours today. Whilst there isn’t a displayed deal expiration date, Dell often refreshes its deals every Friday, meaning this discount may not be here tomorrow. In other words, now's the perfect time to make a decision.
An impressively sleek and slim laptop with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and a 9th generation six-core Intel Core i7 processor, Dell’s G7 17 Gaming Laptop also packs in Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2070 design graphics card for immersive 1080p gaming. Currently discounted by 30% through Dell’s online store – that’s a massive saving of $1,050!View Deal
Get ready for more amazing deals and discounts with Amazon Prime Day starting on October 13. Click here to find out more
from TechRadar - All the latest technology news https://ift.tt/3l2xWtP
via IFTTT
If you have a passion for travel, food, gadgets, or simply enjoy ranting, you may already have discovered the benefits of blogging. Recording your forays into food or experimentation with radical communists allows you to share your news and views with the internet community.
WordPress has thousands of templates to help you get started. In this guide, you’ll explore five of the very best themes specifically for hobbyists and bloggers. Some of these such as ‘Writing’ also incorporate SEO features meaning people searching online will be more likely to stumble across your blog.
If you’re starting on a shoe-string budget, consider using one of the free themes we’ve listed here, such as Morning Time Lite.
Food lovers will enjoy the mouth-watering layout of this pro blog for a price
Detailed tutorials
Uses Genesis Framework
Expensive
Foodie Pro helps users to create a beautiful blog based around all sorts of culinary delights.
It is created by the Genesis Framework. This means your website will have a solid combination of this Framework along with WordPress. The theme comes with a huge amount of typography and color options.
Users can build their site using up to 3 homepage and 5 site wide widget areas. These can be customized to fit around your brand.
The theme allows users to upload their own logo with one click. There is also full support for text-based logos.
Foodie Pro’s ‘Theme Customizer’ allows users to customize the theme’s settings, colors and backgrounds images.
The ‘Foodie Pro Theme’ can be purchased for $129.95 (£98.23) for one year. This includes the Genesis Framework, Foodie Pro Theme, instant access, unlimited updates, supports, sites and access to detailed tutorials.
If this is not enough, users can choose ‘Genesis Pro’ for $360 (£278.5). This includes all the ‘Foodie Pro Theme’ has to offer plus access to every theme the company makes including future themes.
Soledad is a simple website builder with a variety of customization options
Multiple homepage demos
Suitable for beginners
Hard to search documentation
Soledad was created as a website builder for all skill types. It is geared towards users who want to run blogs or create magazines.
The theme is highly customizable with multiple homepage layout models available. Users can also change the appearance of the ‘Category’, ‘Tag’, ‘Search’ and ‘Archive Layout’.
Soledad is an SEO responsive WordPress multipurpose blog and magazine theme. It’s compatible with BBPress and BuddyPress. The theme is fully responsive and displays well on all screens.
Soledad has over 4000 real homepage demos which can be installed with just one click. There are also a number of single post templates for different stories.
The theme can be purchased for $59 (£45.8) which includes future updates and 6 months support which can be upgraded to 12-months for an extra $17.63 (£13.7). At the time of writing, due to a sale, you can get the theme for $47.
Some online commentators have lamented the lack of a search feature when it comes to support documentation.
Morning Time is perfect for sharing news and views via its intuitive interface
Free version
Free premium Demo
WooCommerce compatible
Morning Time is a highly functional WordPress theme suitable for journalists, family blogs or personal blogs.
Users can purchase the theme directly or they can test the demo the site offers. The theme is highly responsive so adapts well to tablets and smartphones.
Morning Time is fully compatible with Gutenberg. Users can create blocks to insert, rearrange and style multimedia content without needing to have a lot of technical knowledge.
Users can create and customize different aspects of their site including portfolio and Google maps amongst others.
Morning Time is compatible with WooCommerce allowing you to turn your blog into an online store if needed.
Users can make their older posts available with the ‘Blog Archive Feature’. Older posts will not disappear as you create new blogs.
Users can also download ‘Morning Time Lite’ for free or subscribe to their premium tiers.
Morning Time has three paid packages available. Users can avail of the ‘Yearly Access’ package for $97 (£74) per year. This includes access to all themes, child themes, PSD, HTML files, Support, updates, theme documentation and multiple site usage.
Alternatively, users can purchase the ‘Lifetime’ package for $247 (£200) which includes all the ‘Yearly Access’ has to offer but with a one-off payment.
A deceptively simple interface that could boost your search rankings
Minimalistic design
SEO optimized
No free download
Writing is the perfect theme for those trying to create a minimalist effect.
The theme uses 24 Social Share Icons along with Facebook Open Graph Tags and multiple Social Icon Widgets. It is WPML compatible. Writing can be translated into any language. RTL support is also available for Hebrew, Arabic and Japanese.
Writing is retina ready and is fully responsive making it adaptable to screens of all size and resolution. Also, images are neatly optimized with features like lazy load.
The whole setup is easy and geared towards users of any skill level. The theme is built according to the most recent rules of Search Engines. This means using this theme will help boost your SEO results maximizing traffic to your blog.
Users can purchase Writing for $49 (£39.7) which includes future updates and 6-months support. 12-months support can be bought for a further $13.88 (£11.25).
The WordPress platform is one of the simplest ways to create colorful and well laid out webpages. Setup is usually performed with a few mouse clicks, so no coding knowledge is required.
The platform supports thousands of various designs known as themes, some of which are suited to specific users such as small businesses, whilst others have a more general appeal.
Many Wordpress themes are designed for blogs, but there are more specialist ones, such as for art and photography portfolios. There are also premium Wordpress themes available for those who want to invest extra in their website, and there are also ecommerce themes for business users.
When starting out you may feel overwhelmed by the choices available, especially if you’re not sure if a theme is worth buying. Also, do check that any theme you do consider will work properly with any Wordpress plugins you have also installed.
In this guide, you’ll discover five of our very favorite free and paid WordPress themes. Whether you’re a freelancer on a tight budget or an established business, rest assured there’s a theme for you.
Hestia is the perfect theme for those with small businesses, startups, online agencies and firms due to its multi-purpose functionality. Users do not have to pay to download this theme. Installation and setup is designed to be user friendly.
This theme is best suited to users who want to setup an ecommerce platform. Hestia integrates with WooCommerce, allowing users access to beautifully designed product listings. There is an easy to use drag and drop feature suitable.
This theme comes with custom background settings which aid in adding photos to your site and making it your own. It has a multi-purpose one page design, a widget designed footer and a blog or news section.
It integrates with Travel Map, Photo Gallery, Flat Parallax Slider and Elementor Page Builder. Hestia is responsive and uses Material Kit for design.
As with most WordPress themes, there is a demo for users to sample before downloading.
X is a paid WordPress theme suitable for all types of websites.
The theme comes with four categories of built-in demos. Each of these themes cover a wide variety of potential projects. This means that no matter what you have in mind, X more than likely has a design suited to your needs.
Cornerstone is included with X. This is one of the most popular WordPress web page builders. The drag and drop feature is easy to use. Users are able to see exactly what their page will look like live as they are building. This enables users to change and edit while building their site.
There are a huge number of customization options, with which users can build a unique webpage. It's also constantly updated and you get features like the custom font or inline editing. In the early 2019, X introduced Dynamic Content which helps a lot when building out content throughout your site.
X comes with a feature called ‘the customizer’. This is a handy tool as many premium themes come with their own theme options page that is not entirely compatible with WordPress. ‘The Customizer’ is highly intuitive. It integrates seamlessly with WordPress. It will help you to customize the look and feel of your website.
The regular license for X is $29 which includes future updates and 6 months customer support. Users can opt to extend support to 12-months for an additional $6.38.
Allegiant is a highly customizable WordPress theme that is most suited for small businesses that are just starting out.
The theme itself is simple and well laid out. Across the top there is a large header to highlight your most popular services or products. The slides on the homepage can be displayed in any order.
The theme offers several feature blocks that can be easily inserted onto your page with details about your business team or your past endeavors amongst others. These blocks come with the theme’s plugin ‘CPO Content Types’. The plugin is free and installs very quickly.
These pre-built blocks also come with testimonial section. It is very easy to copy and paste information into the blocks.
Allegiant integrates with other free popular WordPress themes such as WooCommerce, Yoast SEO, WPML and Contact Form 7.
It’s also free to download from the WordPress website.
Some online commentators mention that while the theme is customizable it is not easy to figure out how to do so. They don’t recommend Allegiant for newer users.
Sydney works well for freelancers and companies who want to create a strong online presence.
It is highly customizable with many options to choose from such as Google Fonts and logo uploads. The theme has more than 600 Google fonts to choose from.
For users who want to show off, there is a full screen promotional banner that can be edited to suit your needs.
The custom elementor blocks can be designed as you see fit and to suit your promotional needs. Sydney can also display social media icons at the bottom of your page.
The theme is translation ready and provides the necessary tools for a smooth translation process.
Users have access to full color control, sticky navigation, header image and a full screen slider. Sydney also offers Parallax background affects. Users can add this to any row in the theme layout.
The theme is free to download, and costs $59 for a Pro licence.
Uncode is a multi-purpose theme suitable for most users.
The theme offers users a huge variety of website demos. These include classic, portfolio, blog and ecommerce layouts.
Uncode’s images are fully adaptive so that they adjust automatically to whatever screen size they are being viewed on.
Users can edit their demos through the WPBakery Page Builder Plugin. They can also access to the handy drag and drop content editor. Uncode is compatible with most third-party plugins.
The themes large media library makes it easier for users to embed any type of media to your WordPress site.
Uncode has over 6 different menu types with advanced options. These include top right, justify, left, center, overlay, offcanvas and lateral.
The theme is WPML certified and offers RTL (Right to Left) support. The premium themes included are VC Page Builder, VC Clipboard, VC Particles, LayerSlider, Slider Revolution and iLightBox. In the recent updates, new features are available like animated headlines, highlighting effects and frontend editor, among other things.
You can purchase for $59 and includes future updates and 6 months support. If you want to extend support to 12 months, an additional $17.63 is needed.
Foodie Pro helps users to create a beautiful blog based around all sorts of culinary delights.
It is created by the Genesis Framework. This means your website will have a solid combination of this Framework along with WordPress. The theme comes with a huge amount of typography and color options.
Users can build their site using up to 3 homepage and 5 site wide widget areas. These can be customized to fit around your brand.
The theme allows users to upload their own logo with one click. There is also full support for text-based logos.
Foodie Pro’s ‘Theme Customizer’ allows users to customize the theme’s settings, colors and backgrounds images.
The ‘Foodie Pro Theme’ can be purchased for $129.95 for one year. This includes the Genesis Framework, Foodie Pro Theme, instant access, unlimited updates, supports, sites and access to detailed tutorials.
If this is not enough, users can choose the ‘Genesis Pro’ for $360 (£279.5). This includes all the ‘Foodie Pro Theme’ has to offer plus access to every theme the company makes including future themes.
Shopkeeper is a user-friendly WordPress e-commerce platform. The homepage consists mainly of one large slider, designed to catch the eye of any potential clients. This is part of the Slider Revolution plugin which is included. Various optional plugins like "Shopkeeper Portfolio Addon" can also be installed.
The theme integrates completely with WooCommerce, and translation is supported with the WPML plugin. Shopkeeper is Retina-ready and fully responsive, making it perfect to view on both tablets and smartphones as well as your desktop computer.
The theme is easily customizable. Users do not need knowledge of complex codes in order to use it. There are a huge array of pre-built layouts to suit your needs, but failing this, users can create their own layout from scratch.
Users can also upload their own logo, change fonts and colors. Visual Slider and Revolution Slider plugins are included with the Shopkeeper theme; these cost around $26 (£19.5) each. Shopkeeper itself sells at $59 for a regular license. Users can upgrade to 12-months support for a further $17.63.
Some online commentators have noted that the huge amount of customizable settings contained within Shopkeeper can be overwhelming for newer users.
In July 2001, the Code Red worm infected over 359,000 hosts which were running a vulnerable implementation of Windows NT. Visitors to compromised websites were greeted with the message: "HELLO! Welcome to http://www.worm.com! Hacked By Chinese!"
Code Red and the phrase "Hacked by Chinese!" have long since passed into internet legend but the danger of website defacement is clear and present. Hackers can target your site at any time, so unless you are viewing a page as its been changed, it's hard to respond quickly.
In this guide, you'll discover an elegant solution to the issue of website defacement in the form of the very best security tools on the web today. These automate the task of regularly checking your domains for anomalies and make sure to notify you if any unauthorized changes are detected.
There are options to match all budgets from free services suitable for the occasional blogger to premium platforms for large business owners.
We've also highlighted the best web hosting services
A simple free tool for detecting superficial changes
Easy setup
Mobile version available
Only detects visual changes
Visualping is a deceptively simple tool which offers powerful protection against website defacement. Users of the website or iOS/Android mobile apps need only enter a URL and their email address to receive regular updates of any changes made.
The tool works by making regular snapshots of the page in question then comparing these on an hourly, daily or weekly basis. It can also be customized to trigger an alert for tiny, medium or significant changes.
Visualping is not designed specifically for website defacement. As the developers' website mentions, it will work equally well for checking on the release on concert tickets or a new product launch. However its ability to display superposed 'images' as well as the fact you can control the frequency Visualping checks for changes means it's certainly fit for purpose.
The basic free version of Visualping allows you up to 2 free checks per day. Costs vary after this on a very reasonable sliding scale depending on the number of checks required. For instance, to have Visualping check your site 40 times a day (every 36 minutes) would cost just $13 (£9.72) a month.
If you need to monitor multiple domains consider installing the Visualping Chrome web extension. Once installed just click the Visualping button to start monitoring the current page.
Through to its name Visualping may not be able to detect invisible to changes to pages such as modifications of source code. If malware is a concern consider one of the other tools in this guide.
StatusCake is a mighty tasty offering with competitive pricing
Advanced features such as speed test
Reasonable costs
Free tier offers only 10 checks a day
StatusCake is a many-layered treat for webmasters. This British-based site offers a way to check your pages for defacement and downtime from a variety of locations: the project maintains 48 monitoring centers in 28 countries around the world. Many centers support the more recent IPv6 protocol.
This offers subscribers a much more refined experience over simpler competitors. Not only can you adjust the frequency of checks but you can also specify the location from which you want to monitor pages. StatusCake even offers a speed test to show how quickly a page loads when checked.
There is a free package which can perform up to 10 checks at 5-minute intervals. This is fine for hobby bloggers and those with very monolithic websites but business owners can benefit more from a paid subscription.
These are very competitively priced compared to other monitoring services. StatusCake's 'superior' subscription, for instance, costs only $24.49 (£18.50) a month and performs up to 100 checks at 1-minute intervals. You can lower that to $20.41 per month with annual billing.
Regardless of which package you choose, StatusCake includes multiple notification options including email, text message and even push notifications via Android/iOS. This service also works with some third party apps such as PagerDuty.
Sucuri began in 2010 under the guiding hand of developer Daniel Cid who envisioned a tool which could give webmasters better insight into the security status of their websites.
It's safe to say that Mr. Cid has been successful. The cloud-based SaaS (Software as a Service) Sucuri works not only as a monitoring platform but contains many tools to help prevent malicious attacks by hackers such as a Firewall, anti-virus and DDoS protection. This may be why Sucuri was acquired by legendary hosting provider GoDaddy in March 2018.
The Sucuri Website Firewall can handle malware prevention through use of a dedicated whitelist, so that only authorised parties can connect to your site. Sucuri also regularly monitors changes to your pages and can display appropriate warnings. Furthermore, there is a free website malware and security scanner that you can use at sitecheck.sucuri.net.
The service also maintains a dedicated incident response team, who work 365 days a year to assist you with restoring your site if anything goes wrong. Subscribers to the 'basic' Sucuri package for $199 (£149.46) per year are guaranteed a response within 12 hours to all support requests of this kind. The basic tier also includes features such as the firewall (with support for whitelists and blacklists), continuous scanning for defacement and malware cleanup.
Sadly, there is no free trial for Sucuri, however the main site offers a money back guarantee within 30 days if users aren't satisfied.
OnWebChange is one of the most versatile and useful tools when it comes to defacement protection. Since it was originally developed by Briton Tom Carnell in 2009 the service has exploded and can boast tens of thousands of users. This is due in part to the sophisticated monitoring features. In the first instance, users can select one or more areas to monitor within a web page. This is ideal if you maintain pages with dynamic content.
OnWebChange will notify you each time a change takes place, either via email or via push notifications in Android/iOS. Power Users can also use a HTTP CallBacks with their own login data to adjust website content automatically e.g. to restore a defaced page. Furthermore, users can use multi-region tracking which allows you to visit the web pages as if you were visiting them from different geographic regions around the world.
The generous free tier offers subscribers advanced CSS (Page Content Selection) as well as the ability to scan both PDF and plain text files for changes. Free tier users are permitted a maximum of 3 tracked sites a month. Checks are made up to 30 times (roughly once a day).
Premium subscribers such as those who opt for the 'Standard' package for $3.10 (£2.55) a month, benefit from advanced features such as unlimited trackers and checks every 60 minutes. The highest tier of subscription called "Turbo-100", enables 5 minute tracking with some additional features.
Fluxguard offers various powerful features in addition to defacement monitoring and as such attracts a variety of customers. Its website change monitoring is quite effective with full browser page crawls and other functions depending on what you paid for.
The service provides multiple levels of web change detection. Every page is screenshotted and any pixel changes are detected. The HTML is compared and the text is extracted and checked for changes, and the complete network change analysis is done. The service also runs Google Lighthouse audits. The already mentioned full browser page crawls include complete network activity logging, multiple screenshots, rendered DOM capture, and a few other things.
The pricing is versatile with several plans available, including the free plan. The free plan gives you 50 credits per month, and 1 credit equals one full page crawl, so you can crawl and monitor 50 pages per month. The plan includes visual, HTML, and text change detection, as well as 100% dynamic page monitoring. You also get Google Chrome crawler, Google Lighthouse audits, and instant email alerts.
The cheapest paid plan was priced at $25 per month, and it gave you 1000 credits per month and the ability to crawl every 5 minutes, but curiously it seems to be gone. The current pricing starts at $99 per month for 10000 credits, crawling every 5 minutes, and some additional features. There is also a 7-day free trial for all paid plans.
All things considered, Fluxguard is a good choice for all your defacement monitoring needs and their free plan offers a good starting point in exploring what the service can do.
Read on for our detailed analysis of each provider
In the middle ages, the Knights Templar established the key processes for the modern system of notary services, banking, loans, and mortgages that we have today. During that era, Knights carried with them documentation that proved their identity, created by a notary, often embossed with official wax seals.
The importance of these documents was enhanced by a Papal declaration in 1139 that allowed the Knights Templar to pass freely through any border, pay no taxes, and be granted total freedom from every authority other than the Vatican.
Without the documents created by a notary, anyone could impersonate a Knight, and avoid the laws that applied to ordinary citizens throughout the rest of Europe.
And when it comes to the worldwide web today, we can draw a parallel with a similar document of authority: the SSL certificate. SSL Certification (or TLS to be more accurate) is a means to verify the source of web pages, domains, and open the door to information exchanges and electronic financial transactions.
But how do you pick a good SSL provider? Simple – read on and find out. First of all, we’ve got a list of 10 of our favored SSL certificate providers, although everyone’s needs vary, so following our list, we will engage in an in-depth discussion of all the criteria you should consider when picking the right company for you.
We’ve also rounded up the best overall website hosting services
Below are the best SSL certificate providers of 2020:
As a highly affordable provider of SSL services, Comodo SSL has made some significant headway in the past few years.
Much of that success has been the result of very aggressive pricing, with a DV level ‘Positive SSL’ Certification costing just $7.02 (£5.5) currently for five-year coverage.
A ‘Premium’ SSL solution only costs $54.09 (£42.6) for five years. That package includes a fully validated certificate, 256-bit encryption and a $250,000 (£189,000) relying party warranty.
But be warned, validation can take some time if the information required for Comodo SSL to complete the checking process isn’t available online. On the plus side, the company has excellent support people should you have installation or browser issues.
Having operated independently for some years, in 2017, DigiCert has completed an acquisition of Norton's website security and related PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) solutions. The motivation for this buyout was that Norton managed to convince 90% of Fortune 500 companies to pay for the Norton Secured Seal.
These are now DigiCert’s customers, and the company has implemented a plan to transition those using Symantec products on to DigiCert when appropriate.
The starting price for an SSL Certificate is $218 (£172) per year, although you might be able to better that with a two-year deal. A wildcard option, covering unlimited servers and a complete multi-level domain, is $653 (£505.8) – an enticing prospect.
A slick company run by experts in the security field
Impressive reputation as swift operators
Ability to manage numerous certificates
Not the most affordable service
Based in the US, Entrust has been in business since 1994 and has garnered a reputation as a well-oiled machine for generating certification quickly and smoothly.
Entrust was built around a wide selection of security products: ID card printers, authentication systems, credit card printers and a PKI are all among its product lines.
With so much invested in secure systems, SSL certificates are considered one of its strongest offerings. Customers especially like the ability to manage numerous certificates across multiple domains from a management console.
Prices start at $199 (£154.1) per year for its Standard SSL single site product, climbing to $699 (£541) for a Wildcard SSL covering unlimited servers and subdomains. From what we’ve seen, most customers seem delighted with the service at all levels, seemingly justifying the extra cost over cheaper options.
Boasts a comprehensive selection of SSL certificates
Great value at the high-end
Enterprise solutions can be tailored
Validation may be time-consuming
GeoTrust was once owned by VeriSign and then Norton, and due to the sale of the latter operation, it might also be part of DigiCert by now. The business covers three main areas: SSL certificates, Signing Services and SSL for enterprise services.
Those looking for SSL certification will find that GeoTrust offers a comprehensive selection starting with domain-level and progressing up to its True BusinessID with EV level certification.
Pricing is more competitive at the higher end, so those wanting a single site certificate might want to avoid GeoTrust, but those needing EV or OV level products should take a look.
Enterprise solutions specifically tailored to government organizations, healthcare businesses and financial institutions are part of the GeoTrust range. Be prepared for identity checks to take longer than others, but the thoroughness of these checks has enhanced GeoTrust’s status.
You get what you pay for here, with top-notch support
Excellent choice for enterprise customers
Scalable and flexible solutions
Not cheap
Where some operations have a wide client base, GlobalSign is very focused on enterprise customers, especially those who are looking to deploy highly scalable PKI solutions.
By taking this route, an enterprise customer can have all the rules, policies, and procedures for using SSL certificates, and their subsequent creation, distribution and revocation are all handled for them. But if you only want SSL certificates, GlobalSign can do that too.
Having the level of support and organization that GlobalSign delivers doesn’t come cheap, and even for a single site with only DV level certification, prices start at $249 (£189). For those wanting the full EV certification, expect to pay $599 (£455) per year for a single site.
Web hosting giant also does SSL with an interesting spin
Pricing structure will work well for some
Excellent on the security front
Watch out for renewal prices
GoDaddy might be better known for its web hosting plans, but it’s also a big provider of SSL services.
Instead of offering DV, OV and EV certification at different prices, they all cost the same relatively low price. The pricing structure is instead based on a single site, multiple sites, or a domain with full subdomain cover.
Currently a single site, (DV, OV or EV level) costs $79.99 (£63.5) per year ($63.99 for the first term), and the all level domain solution is only $369.99 (£286.6) per year ($229.26 for the first term). The return on that investment is the best SHA2 and 2048-bit encryption, and the trust seal provided by McAfee Secure.
One quirk of GoDaddy’s offering is that while the fresh installation is relatively cheap, renewal can be more expensive. If you can be organized enough to do fresh installs each year, you can save yourself a little money over simply renewing.
In some respects, Network Solutions is a little like GoDaddy, in that they both offer a wide range of web-related services, like domain names and e-commerce solutions, and SSL certification isn’t their sole focus.
What might attract customers is this firm’s pricing, with a base cost that starts at $59.99 (£45.5) with a 2-year term for a single site, rising to $399.5 (£309) for an EV level certificate that should be issued within five working days.
The weakness of this offering would seem to be the support team, which has been described in less than glowing terms by some customers. So given that, if you understand the details of installing certificates, then this might be for you, but anyone wanting extensive technical support may want to look elsewhere.
RapidSSL is owned by GeoTrust, another SSL provider we’ve already mentioned in this list. The business logic behind this is that whereas GeoTrust focuses on corporate giants, RapidSSL targets smaller businesses that are more cost-sensitive.
For just $17.95 (£13.6) per year, RapidSSL will provide a single domain certificate with 128/256-bit encryption with a browser recognition that exceeds 99%. A wildcard certificate that covers unlimited subdomains is $149 (£113) per year, plus it includes a $10,000 (£7,500) warranty and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Free support is provided 24/7 by web and email, and installation tools are part of the package at no extra cost. And, even at this low price, the service is built on the same GeoTrust global infrastructure as the corporate customers benefit from.
Temptingly low prices are the star attraction here
Very affordably priced
Strong customer service
Need longer-term plans to get best prices
If the most important metric of this sector is customer approval, then SSL.com is delivering the type of SSL service that wins friends and returning customers. Part of that equation is strong customer services and support teams, and the other element is competitive pricing which values those willing to commit for longer periods than a year.
A single domain level certificate starts at $49 (£36) per year but can be as low as $36.75 (£28) per annum if bought for five years. If you’re a smaller business looking for certification, SSL.com might be a good place to start.
The company is hardly a household name, but Thawte has managed to corral more than 40% of the global market for SSL certificates. So far it has issued nearly a billion certificates in 240 countries worldwide.
What’s helped the firm establish this position is the strength of its offerings, and selling points include impressive browser compatibility, excellent certificate management tools, and up to 256-bit encryption.
For those who need EV level certification, the price is $156.50 (2-year plan), and that comes with a promise to complete the background checks in one to three days maximum. The success that Thawte has had seems well grounded in a strong combination of customer satisfaction and affordable pricing.
The mechanism of SSL certification has two important functions: authentication and encryption.
As a means to authorize a connection, the SSL certificate holds information about the business, website or person you are connecting to, and is also a means to verify that identity through a third-party.
If you wish to see this in action, look at the URL of this web page in the address bar of your browser, and alongside the text, just on the left, you should see a small green padlock that identifies that this is a secure SSL-certificated site.
Clicking on the padlock will tell you that the connection is secure and allow you to reveal what information the certificate has. That will include the users of the certificate, and the SSL provider that bestowed authorization.
In addition to authority and verification, the SSL certificate also includes a means to encrypt traffic between the user’s computer and the website. Without this encryption, sensitive information like passwords could potentially be compromised by a nefarious party intercepting the data traffic flowing between the client computer and the web server.
The security of this system is underpinned by another independent third-party, the trusted Certificate Authority (CA), which issues the SSL certificate under strict guidelines.
Very much mirroring the phrase ‘my word is my bond’, the support of a CA with an SSL certificate is a declaration of trust in a person, company or website. And the CA is in turn verified by a Root certificate holder, proving that they are trusted to issue certificates and revoke them where necessary.
Should these trusted relationships fail, the SSL certificates become invalid. In that case, anyone visiting a location covered by one such certificate would immediately be warned that it has no valid SSL certificate, and that their connection may no longer be secure.
As you can imagine, the impact that a revoked certificate would have on a live business would be very serious. So it’s vital that you get your SSL certificate from the right source, backed by the most respected CA.
Having inherent trust where identity is concerned is necessary, but having the right level of certification for the business is also very important.
Special relationships
When people talk about SSL certificates, it is easy to assume that they’re all the same. But depending on who authorized them and how diligent the background checks were, they come with different levels of validation.
Here are the four levels of validation most commonly used:
Self-signed. At first glance, the idea of self-signed certificates seems mildly ridiculous, because looking in the mirror and confirming that the reflection is indeed you won’t work at passport control. However, if the purpose of these certificates is to control traffic on an internal corporate intranet, it works well enough, and avoids the browser repeatedly complaining about unsecured web locations.
Domain Validation (DV). The next rung up is the Domain Validated SSL certificate, which is purely a confirmation that the web pages are truly coming from the expected domain and not some other. It says nothing about the person or business in question, just that they own a domain.
Organization Validated (OV). The highest level of validation that an individual can aspire to, and high enough for many businesses. Company credentials and those of the named owners are checked against extensive databases, including those held by local governments.
Extended Validation (EV). The pinnacle of SSL issuance is the fully authenticated SSL certificate, needed for any company that wants to offer their customers secure web locations, email and financial transactions.
While self-signed and domain level certificates have their uses, it’s the OV and EV levels that businesses truly need. Because they prove that a company has domain ownership, a genuine business, and that the certificate was applied for by authorized personnel.
As it’s reasonable to expect, checks of this type take time. Therefore, applying for and being granted an authenticated SSL certificate is not something that can happen five minutes before a new web venture is about to go live.
The other element that separates one SSL certificate from another is the level of encryption that it applies, and exactly how secure that makes it.
Encryption
The model for SSL certificates allows for them to use 128 or 256-bit encryption, should the client’s browser support it. Calculations show that it would take a supercomputer 13.75 billion years to test every permutation of a 128-bit encrypted code.
And, for good measure, the initial handshake is performed using an ultra-secure 2048-bit RSA key. Once past that awkward first date, SSL communication is usually continued with 128, 192 or 256-bit, as without quantum computers these are practically uncrackable, and they put less stress on the computers encrypting and decrypting at either end.
Most providers are offering 256-bit encryption these days, but that’s only valid when the web server, client computer operating system and browser can all operate at that encryption level.
Old operating systems and browsers can force encryption levels to 40 or 56-bit, even if the certificate they’re accessing is capable of 256-bit.
While you can’t entirely control the client end, the minimum requirement for encryption should be 256-bit at the server end, period.
What makes a good SSL purchase?
There is a temptation to make choices entirely based on cost, especially if you have lots of sites to cover or a dynamic business environment.
Poor decisions can have big cost implications, and changing direction once you have a consumer-facing solution isn’t ideal.
The following factors should play a part in picking the right issuance operation for you:
Period of trial - Before anything goes live you’ll want to test it, yes?
Browser compatibility - With so many computers still running Windows 7 and even older releases, working with older browsers is still a major concern.
Issuance timeframe - When deadlines are in play, time can be critical should a new certificate suddenly be needed
Trust level type - The trick is to match the needs of the web location with the level of security and trust needed. If you don’t do financial transactions, then EV level security probably isn’t required. Not all firms offer OV level certificates and some companies try to charge for self-signed, amazingly.
Trust site seal - Providing a recognizable seal that the public can see is an easy way to let your customers know that a site is secure and that their information is safe.
Support of SSL experts - The subtle nuances of SSL and certification can befuddle even the most astute IT people, so having an SSL support team available is critical.
Refund policy - Entering a business relationship assuming it will go sideways isn’t a particularly positive viewpoint, but knowing that your money will come back if needed is a sensible precaution.
Warranty policy - Some CAs cover errors in identification, loss of documents or intentional/accidental errors. These warranties might have implications for those companies that self-insure.
You might also want to check out our hosting guides:
If Nextcloud has become your on-premise cloud solution, you might be interested to know there's a social component you can add. Jack Wallen shows you how.
from Cloud on TechRepublic https://ift.tt/3iiAEJG
via IFTTT
Huawei has announced its latest MateBook X 2020 for the UAE refreshing its high-end series of laptops. It takes its place below the MateBook X Pro (2020). The new laptop comes with a 3K display, a compact fan-less design, and a pressure-sensitive trackpad.
On the design front, the Huawei MateBook X 2020 is easily one of the slimmest and lightweight machines available to users. It weighs as little as 1kg and its overall thickness is just 13.6mm. Despite such a thin profile, Huawei has fitted the laptop with a 13.0-inch bezel-less display. The overall build is metal, as you might have presumed.
The MateBook X display has an aspect ratio of 3:2 and a screen-to-body ratio of 90% similar to the MateBook X Pro. It has a pixel density of 278 PPI and supports touch interactions. Huawei claims a 100% sRGB colour gamut coverage with a promised maximum brightness of 400 nits.
In terms of configuration, the MateBook X is equipped with a tenth-generation Core low-voltage processor, up to i7-10510U, with 4 cores and 8 threads clocking up to 4.9GHz.The CPU is paired with either 8GB or 16GB of LPDDR3 memory to power up the device while storage options are limited to 512GB of PCIe NVMe SSD. As for the battery, it comes in at 42Wh which is a bit smaller than the MateBook X Pro.
(Image credit: Huawei)
The keyboard hasn’t received much of an upgrade apart from the pressure-sensitive trackpad. It hides a camera module and four speakers. The notebook does away with the standard USB-A connector and uses just two USB-C ports, and it comes packaged with a 65W fast charger.
The MateBook X comes in two colours - Forest Green and Space Silver Frost. Prices start at AED 5,499 wih pre-orders starting October 8th. Consumers that pre-order will also recieve Huawei FreeBuds 3, MateBoox X Leather Sleeve and the Huawei MateDock 2 for free.
Close your 20 broadband comparison tabs and stop your enthralling research into the difference between ADSL and fibre, because Virgin has dropped a collection of broadband deals to top the rest of the market.
Across all of these packages, Virgin is throwing in £75 Amazon vouchers - a pretty impressive incentive. While you can get this voucher on four different deals, the cheapest offer stands out.
Virgin's M100 plan gets you speeds averaging 108Mb for just £24 a month. Compared to other broadband deals out there, that's double the speeds usually offered for that price.
While the vouchers won't arrive in time for Amazon Prime Day, it is a nice added bonus on an already impressive offer.
You can find out more about these deals below. However, keep in mind that Virgin isn't available everywhere. If you can't get it where you live, consult our guide to fibre broadband deals to see what else is available.
Virgin broadband deals:
Virgin M100 Fibre Broadband| 18 months | 108Mb average speed | £24 per month | FREE activation + £75 voucher This latest offer from Virgin is pretty fantastic. It offers speeds averaging 108Mb at a price of just £24 a month. There's nothing to pay upfront and on top of the excellent speeds and pricing combo, Virgin is also throwing in a £75 Amazon.co.uk voucher on top making this one of the best offers out there. View Deal
Virgin M200 Fibre Broadband| 18 months | 213Mb average speed | £30 per month | FREE activation + £75 voucher If you upgrade to Virgin's M200 deal, you will see a jump in speeds to 213Mb averages. That is going to be more than plenty for big households, allowing for multiple streams, people gaming and more all at the same time. View Deal
Virgin M350 Fibre Broadband| 18 months | 362Mb average speed | £36 per month | FREE activation + £75 voucher Virgin's M350 package starts to get into the world of market-leading speeds with few providers going this high. For £36 a month, you're getting speeds averaging 362Mb - more than enough to assure flawless speeds when downloading and uploading anything you might need. View Deal
Virgin M500 Fibre Broadband| 18 months | 516Mb average speed | £42 per month | FREE activation + £75 voucher Virgin's M500 package offers pretty ridiculous 516Mb average speeds. That's going to be plenty for massive student houses or homes with people working full time, someone gaming, others streaming in HD and more. In essence, this is going to be the package for those who don't like waiting for downloads to finish or have internet draining jobs. View Deal
Is Virgin fibre broadband available in my area?
Approximately 60% of UK households can get superfast Virgin broadband. It's quite simple to find out if you're included in this percentage - head over to our dedicated Virgin broadband deals page, enter your postcode where indicated (at the top of the page) and if the deals show as available then you're good to go.
If no results are returned, then head to our best broadband deals page instead and do exactly the same thing to see whether you can get superfast fibre broadband with another provider, such as BT Fibre broadband.
Existing Virgin Media broadband customers
Sorry, the Virgin website states that these limited-time offers are for new customers only. However, there's no harm in trying to get a slice of the pie, so if you're already a Virgin broadband customer we suggest you get in touch with customer services before trying to place an order.
Read more:
