Spiral Hosting

Spiral Hosting are advising webhosting clients and our resellers to ensure that their website software is up-to-date and secure. We have noticed a recent increase in malware bots scanning websites on our servers looking for vulnerabilities in website software.

Websites that use out-of-date software could have major security flaws and may be vulnerable to hacking exploits, viruses, mal-ware and data theft. One piece of out-of-date software could give a hacker access to your entire website, databases and email accounts; the hacker could change your account passwords or delete your data so it’s very important to always use the latest software releases. Don’t have a “it won’t happen to me” mentality!

There may also be compatibility issues between our web servers and out-of-date software which will result in a lot of PHP error messages appearing suddenly on your website. Preventing these problems is easy; simply ensure your website software is up-to-date and if you don’t know how to do this you should ask us for help!

Here are the latest versions of some popular software:

• WordPress 3.0.1
• Joomla 1.5.20
• phpBB 3.0.7-PL1
• Simple Machines Forum (SMF) 1.1.11
• Zen Cart 1.3.9e
• osCommerce 2.2 RC-2a
• Moodle 1.9.9
• Gallery 2 2.3.1
• Magento 1.4.1.1
• PHP-Nuke 8.0(p3.4)

Don’t use any software on your website except the latest version!

Software that has been installed through Installatron (one-click installer) can be upgraded really easily through your cPanel control panel. Clients with Reseller Hosting accounts can also over-see all software installations through the Installatron Script Installer option in their Web Host Manager.

If you have any questions about upgrading your software please ask us for help.

WordPress 2.8.5 was released this morning. It includes new code to harden your WordPress installation and prevent exploits and denial-of-service vulnerabilities. We are asking all shared hosting customers and resellers to ensure all the software on their accounts is up to date.

You can find out more information on the update on the official WordPress blog.

If you installed WordPress through Installatron Script Installer in your control panel, the update isn’t available there just yet, but it should be within a few days. login to cPanel, then select Installatron, find your installation in the list and click ‘upgrade to 2.8.5′.

If you installed WordPress normally (and not through Installatron) please follow these instructions to update:

1) Login to your WordPress admin area.
2) You’ll see a notice at the top saying that an update is available. Click on it.
3) On the next screen, click Upgrade Automatically.
4) Type in the Connection Information if it’s required.
5) Wait a moment for the moment to run, then that’s it done!

If you have any questions about upgrading your software, please do get in touch.

There are major security bugs in some older versions of Joomla and WordPress. We are asking all shared hosting customers and resellers to ensure all the software on their accounts is up to date.

If you are running Joomla, it should be version 1.5.6 to avoid any security risk.

If you are running WordPress, it should be at least version 2.6.0 (2.6.1 is the latest but 2.6.0 is secure).

Software installed through Installatron can be upgraded really easy with only a few clicks in your cPanel. Hosting Resellers can also over-see all software installs through the Installatron Script Installer in their Web Host Manager.

If you have any questions about upgrading your software, please do get in touch.

The latest version of Firefox 3 has been released.

Developed by Mozilla, Firefox is an open source web browser that comes highly recommended. Mozilla claim it is 2-3 times faster, and includes major updates including faster page rendering, enhanced security features, and a smart location bar which helps you to find webpages when you can’t remember the address. The browser takes a little getting used to, but it is packed with new features.

Firefox are trying to break a Guinness world record with the most downloads in a 24 hour period, so their main site has crashed a few times today under the load.

If you currently use Firefox 2 or Internet Explorer, we recommend you upgrade!

phpBB 3.0 “Olympus” is now available to install on all shared hosting accounts via Installatron in your control panel.

We recommend that all clients using previous versions of phpBB should upgrade.

From phpBB.com:
“Since its creation in 2000, phpBB™ has become the most widely used Open Source forum solution. Like its predecessors, phpBB™ 3.0 “Olympus” has an easy to use administration panel and a user friendly installation process, which allows you to have a forum set up in minutes.”

Irish web hosting business, SpiralHosting.com today announced it has rolled out Installatron, which is available immediately to all new and existing web hosting clients.

Installatron is an advanced auto-installer which plugs-in to the clients hosting control panel. It gives users the ability to install, upgrade, and manage a growing list of web scripts at the click of a button.

Peter Armstrong, director of the Irish HSP explained:
“Spiral Hosting are delighted to launch Installatron across all our linux web hosting packages. Our clients can now setup sophisticated website software in seconds, for example blogs, portals, forums, photo galleries, ecommerce, newsletters and much more…”

“Spiral Hosting is continually improving our hosting services and developing new solutions. This announcement demonstrates our commitment to offering the best web hosting service in Ireland.”

Spiral Hosting recently made headlines when it doubled the diskspace on all reseller hosting packages. It was also one of the first Irish webhosts to introduce Ruby on Rails hosting.

Spiral Hosting, an all-Ireland hosting solutions provider with offices in Dublin, Belfast and Oregon today unveiled Ruby on Rails hosting, which is available immediately to all new and existing web hosting clients.

Peter Armstrong, director of the Irish HSP explained:
“Spiral Hosting are delighted to include Ruby on Rails at no extra cost on all our web hosting and reseller hosting packages. We are delivering leading technology solutions through our high performance servers and feature-rich hosting packages.”

“Ruby on Rails is an innovative and powerful development framework that allows applications to be created with less code, minimal configuration and maximum simplicity. It’s perfect for creating Web 2.0 applications like blogs, forums, online communities, e-commerce and other projects.”

Rails is aimed at web developers who wish to produce content-rich applications quickly and easily. Ruby on Rails and Ruby Gems is available on all our linux-based servers. Customers will find a new section on Ruby Gems in their hosting control panel.