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Website Navigation Mistakes You Should Avoid

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On July 24, 2015

In Website Design

July 24, 2015

Website navigation plays a significant role in the success of your online business. It should be clear and intuitive with the ultimate goal of taking users to the desired page in the shortest possible time. If users are not able to find what they want, they might get exasperated and leave the website, subsequently affecting all your internet marketing efforts.

Given here are some of the common mistakes you should avoid while finalizing your website’s navigation:

  • Being Too Creative: When users visit your website, they usually expect the navigation menu to be present either horizontally on the top or vertically across the side bar. Therefore, you should avoid being too creative with the site’s navigation and leaving the visitors confused. Placing your navigation menu in non-standard places could result in higher bounce rate and lower conversions.
  • Not Targeting The Goal: The navigation should always represent the ultimate goal that you want to achieve through your website. If relevant web pages are not easily accessible, your visitors might leave the site. For instance, if you own a restaurant, your goal would be to get more reservations. Including a separate label to ‘Make A Reservation’ will provide an added convenience to the users for booking a table.
  • Providing Too Many Choices: When it comes to designing navigation, most companies try to include all their products or services into the main menu. Although this may seem to be a good idea, being overwhelmed with too many options may leave the users confused and unable to make a decision about which one to choose. To avoid this, try to keep your navigation as simple and clutter free as possible.
  • Incompatible Sizing: Website navigation is often designed for large screen computers. However, you must remember that such a menu may not aptly fit the screens of mobile devices. This can have a negative effect on visitor‘s experience and limit the site’s usability. You should make sure that your site is responsive so that the navigation can be restructured according to different screen sizes.
  • Using Non-Descriptive Text: Your navigation labels should be able to direct users to the right page. For instance, if you are an online apparel seller, using a generic term like ‘Products’ instead of ‘Men’s Denims’ can make it difficult for users to find what they want. Your focus should be on using descriptive terms that can allow people to view the desired product through minimum clicks.

We, at Centex Technologies, provide web design solutions to the businesses in Central Texas. For more information, you can call us at (855) 375 – 9654.

Wi-Fi Password Sharing Feature In Windows 10 Raises Security Concerns

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On July 16, 2015

In Security

July 16, 2015

With Microsoft taking its last leap with the Windows 10, most tech professionals are looking forward to the new competences added to this operating system. One such feature, that has managed to garner more controversies than commendations, is the ‘Wi-Fi Sense’. Essentially, it is a mode of sharing network information among users. It is designed to allow an easy and quick connection to in-range password protected wireless hotspots within friends. Though Microsoft initially rolled out this Wi-Fi password sharing feature in Windows Phone 8.1, it did not gain much popularity due to its limited user base.

How Does Wi-Fi-Sense Work?

Wi-Fi Sense enables users to share network connection with their Facebook, Skype and Outlook contacts. Working at the back-end, this feature agrees to Wi-Fi terms and conditions, shares log-in credentials as well as connects your friends whenever they are in-range of the network that you want to share. Hence, if any of your friends tries to access your internet connection, Wi-Fi Sense will evaluate his actions and provide access spontaneously, without making the password visible to him. Other users, who are in your contact list and have Windows 10 on their device, will also have their network details shared with you, provided they have enabled Wi-Fi Sense.

Security Risks With Wi-Fi Sense

According to Microsoft’s official sources, the Wi-Fi password is shared in an encrypted form through the company’s internal servers. The user is granted access only to internet connection and not to the files or data stored in your system. However, even the basic sharing of password may compromise the security of your network and make it vulnerable to various hacking attacks. The idea of sharing internet connection can be great for family and friends, but not for corporate settings. Sharing passwords with all your Facebook, Outlook and Skype contacts could also mean inadvertently providing your network information to people whom you barely know.

The best way to safeguard your network from these privacy risks is by taking a few preventive measures. As the feature is likely to be enabled by default in Windows 10 PCs and laptops, make sure you turn it off. However, it is a not a perfect solution for business firms that encourage bring your own device (BYOD) culture. Another option to keep your network out of Wi-Fi Sense is to add the phrase “_optout” to its name. For instance, if your internet connection is named “mynetwork”, you must change it to “mynetwork_optout”.

Considering the security concerns emerging around Wi-Fi Sense, it is recommended that you use 802.1X authentication or implement stricter access controls to your network connection.

Beware Of Fraudulent Companies Claiming To Clean Up Your Virus Infected PC

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On July 9, 2015

In Security

July 9, 2015

Every day, a lot of web users receive fake calls/ emails from scammers posing to be IT support technicians offering help to clean up their computer issues. They claim themselves to be from some reputed software companies and persuade people to perform certain tasks to remove virus from their PC. According to a recently released report by the Better Business Bureau (BBB), these types of phone/ email scams have become the most common way for hackers to access all the personal information stored on the target computer.

How The Scam Works?

A user typically gets a call from people asserting to be from a tech support firm. The callers already gather the target user’s name, address, operating system and version of Windows to convince them about the legitimacy of the call. They may tell the user that they have detected certain virus on the computer that needs to be fixed and for which they need to pay a certain fee. When this occurs, the hackers are able to gain access to the credit card details of the user. They may also install certain malware and malicious software on the system which may require additional expenses to be removed. These phone scams may include the following:

  • The cybercriminals may ask the user to download a remote access service to grant them the right to use the computer. This allows them to take complete charge of the target PC.
  • The user is made to install certain anti-virus software, sold as the genuine version. In contrast, it is simply a trail or forged version, leaving the user’s computer vulnerable to major security threats.
  • Once they have unrestrained access to the system, it can be easily infected with malware. As the targeted system has a non-functioning anti-virus and vulnerable OS, it would not be able to detect or remove the Trojan.

Tips To Avoid Phone Scams

  • Never grant access to your computer to unknown people.
  • Do not depend on caller ID to validate any phone call. Identities on these types of software can be easily hoaxed.
  • Do not provide details about your credit card, bank account or other personal information to any unknown caller.
  • Note down the caller’s information and report it to your local cyber-crime branch.
  • Change any passwords that you have shared with anybody.
  • Always install and regularly update authentic anti-virus software as well as Windows version.

In case you receive any such phone calls, make sure you do not provide them any information and contact the helpline number of your service provider for assistance.

Beware Of Rombertik Virus

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On June 28, 2015

In Security

June 29, 2015

Cybersecurity experts have come up with a new self-destructive virus, Rombertik, which is remarkably inimitable with respect to its functionality and perplexity. Identified by Cisco’s Talos Security Intelligence and Research Group, the deadly virus has been designed to decode any text entered into the user’s internet browser. It aims at stealing user names, passwords, bank account details, credit card codes and other sensitive information. Also known as the ‘suicide virus’, Rombertik attempts to destroy the infected computer if it gets detected.

How Does Rombertik Work?   

Rombertik mainly targets a user’s computer through spam emails. When a user downloads the attachment files that accompany these emails, the virus installs itself on the device. Initially, Rombertik performs some checks to confirm it is not running inside the sandbox, after which it starts with its execution. What makes Rombertik different from other malware is its bloated file size. As stated by Talos, the unpacked version of Rombertik is merely 28 KB whereas the packed file is more than 1 MB. This implies that almost 97 percent of the data in packed version is included just to make the file look legitimate.

The malware Rombertik is self-aware, meaning that it recognizes if the user tries to dismiss it with anti-virus software. In an attempt to avoid detection, the virus starts to destroy itself along with the computer’s Master Boot Record (MBR), rendering it unusable.

How Does Rombertik Remain Undetected?

  • The huge amount of junk elements contained in the executable file of Rombertik is never utilized by the malware. This inflates the volume of the file, which needs to be analyzed and studied by the cyber experts, thus, adjourning the virus identification process.
  • The virus overwrites a single byte of random data 960 million times on the computer memory. This is done to deceive sandbox to take Rombertik to be an authentic program. It leads to extending the data log over 100 GB, thus, complicating the investigation and detection of the malware.

How To Protect Against Rombertik?

  • One should not download attachments in emails from unknown sources.
  • Anti-virus software should be updated to block the malware in the first place.
  • Set up email security settings and block downloading of certain types of attachments.

Cyber security professionals recommend that users should constantly update their system’s security software and keep a backup of all the important data to minimize the effects of getting the system infected with Rombertik.

Questions To Ask From Your Cloud Service Provider

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On June 25, 2015

In Networking

June 25, 2015

Switching over to cloud for your critical business operations, like emails and document storage, can be extremely beneficial.  It can help to cut costs, organize workflow and eliminate the need for hiring specialized IT personnel. Above all these, the biggest benefit of moving operations to cloud is major data concerns such as security, support and backup are automatically taken care of. With a number of companies offering cloud based services, it can be difficult to choose the most reliable one for your business.

Here are some of the important questions that you must ask while screening a provider:

What level of services do they provide?

Determining your cloud computing needs can help you decide on what type of services you require. If you require more than just data storage service, there are several providers offering complete cloud computing services such as virtual software, applications and servers.

What is their pricing structure?

Choose a provider that allows you to pay-as-you-go. This means that you will be charged on the basis on the services you avail and your storage needs. The fees can be charged hourly, monthly or yearly, depending on your cloud service provider. Charges for cloud computing may be as low as $1 and go up to $ 100, as per your usage.

How secure is their cloud?

To ensure the safety of your company’s stored data, verify if your cloud provider follows standard and regularly updated security policies. You must look for measures like anti-virus software, firewalls, data encryption, two-factor user authentication, backups etc. Also ask them which employees at the company will have access to the information in the cloud.

What happens if the data is lost?

In the event that your cloud service provider inadvertently loses or obliterates your useful data, you must be sure how exactly they will resolve the issue. You must ask them about the provisions in the company’s Service Level Agreement (SLA) for such cases and if they would recompense for your loss. Also inquire if they have implemented any policies to mitigate the occurrences of such losses.

Is their cloud flexible enough to meet your business needs?

As you expand your business, you might need more storage space on cloud. Therefore, you must choose a company that can upgrade its services to accommodate your requirements. Ask them what other services and how much extra storage capacity they can provide over time. Also, it should be easy to add additional employees to your account.

Besides these, you should ensure that you can access all your business information from any device by just logging into your cloud provider’s sign in page.

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