Domain names are essentially a human way of allowing the Internet to work. Every single computer that exists on the Internet is given a number to identify itself (an “IP address” such as 69.73.172.201). Within this sequence of numbers is also a way of finding out who else is in your “group” and where to find other “groups” but that’s starting to get a bit complex for our needs here. (more)

Restriction by IP address is secure against casual nosiness but not against a determined hacker. There are several ways around IP address restrictions. With the proper equipment and software, a hacker can “spoof” his IP address, making it seem as if he’s connecting from a location different from his real one. Nor is there any guarantee that the person contacting your server from an authorized host is in fact the person you think he is. The remote host may have been broken into and is being used as a front. (more)

What should do when viewing a secure page or website with https url and the browser complains that the site certificate doesn’t match the server and asks user to continue?

The host name of the Web server is an unalterable part of the site certificate. If the name of the host doesn’t match the name on the certificate, the browser will notice this fact and alert you of the problem. (more)

When choosing the colors for your website, you need to first think of your audience. Is it a global audience? Is it primarily Western? Eastern? Are they older? Younger? Male? Female? All of these things, and more can affect the color choices for your website. (more)

Ever feel like you’re talking to someone from a foreign country when all you want is a little help with your website? Web Hosting Jargon explains what some of the web hosting industry’s technical terms mean, so the next time you contact tech support you’ll feel like you’re talking to someone who lives a little closer to home. Today we’re going to look at the job of a name server. (more)

From the early 1980s onward, a flourishing culture of local, MS-DOS-based bulletin boards developed separately from Internet hackerdom. The BBS culture has, as its seamy underside, a stratum of ‘pirate boards’ inhabited by crackers, phone phreaks, and warez d00dz. These people (mostly teenagers running IBM-PC clones from their bedrooms) have developed their own characteristic jargon, heavily influenced by skateboard lingo and underground-rock slang. (more)

Operating systems

Although the Unix and NT communities may not like to hear it. In general, the more powerful and flexible the operating system, the more open it is for attack through its Web (and other) servers.

Unix systems, with their large number of built-in servers, services, scripting languages, and interpreters, are particularly vulnerable to attack because there are simply so many portals of entry for hackers to exploit. Less capable systems, such as Macintosh and special-purpose Web server boxes, are less easy to exploit. The safest Web site is a bare-bones Macintosh running a bare-bones Web server. (more)