Understanding Domain Names and Emails

Before diving into the process, it’s important to understand what domain names and email addresses are and how they work together. They are the foundation of your online presence and play a critical role in how others interact with your business. By grasping these concepts, you will be better equipped to make informed decisions that align with your business goals and branding strategy.

What Is a Domain Name?

A domain name is the web address where people can find you online. It’s unique to your business and acts as your online identity, akin to a street address for a home. When you register a domain, you’re essentially purchasing the rights to use that particular web address. This becomes your digital storefront, welcoming visitors to explore what you have to offer.

The importance of a domain name extends beyond just being an address. It serves as a key branding tool that can influence how you are perceived in the market. A well-chosen domain name can enhance your search engine optimization (SEO), making it easier for potential customers to find you. Therefore, selecting the right domain name is a critical decision that requires careful thought and consideration.

What Is an Email Domain?

An email domain is part of your email address that comes after the “@” symbol. It typically matches your domain name, helping to reinforce your brand identity. For example, in the email address info@mybusiness.com, “mybusiness.com” is the email domain. This consistency in branding is crucial for establishing a professional image.

Using your own domain for email also provides a level of personalization and control. It allows you to create customized email addresses that can be tailored to different functions within your business, such as support@yourdomain.com or sales@yourdomain.com. This not only helps in organizing communication but also ensures that your brand is constantly at the forefront of every interaction.

Why Is a Custom Domain Important for Email?

Using a custom domain for your email address has several advantages that extend beyond mere aesthetics. A custom domain is a powerful branding tool that can significantly impact your business’s perception and operational effectiveness.

• Professionalism: A custom email domain looks more professional than a generic one like Gmail or Yahoo. It signals to clients and partners that you are serious about your business and are willing to invest in your brand. This professionalism can be the deciding factor for potential customers choosing between you and a competitor.
• Branding: It reinforces your brand every time you send an email. Each email becomes a mini advertisement for your business, keeping your brand in the minds of your recipients. This consistency is key to building a strong, recognizable brand identity.
• Trust: Customers are more likely to trust an email that comes from a branded domain. A custom domain reduces the risk of being perceived as spam or fraudulent, as it confirms the legitimacy of your business. This trust is essential for nurturing customer relationships and encouraging repeat business.
• Control: You have more control over email addresses and accounts associated with your domain. This means you can create, delete, or manage accounts as needed, ensuring that your email communication is efficient and secure. It also allows you to implement advanced security measures to protect your sensitive information.

Steps to Register a Domain Name for Email

To set up a professional email address, the first step is to register a domain name. This process involves several steps that require careful consideration to ensure you select the best domain for your business needs.

Step 1: Choose a Domain Name

Selecting the right domain is crucial. It should be:

• Relevant: Reflect your business or personal brand. The domain should be a clear representation of who you are and what you do, providing immediate clarity to anyone who encounters it.
• Memorable: Easy to remember and spell. A complex or difficult-to-spell domain name can lead to confusion and make it harder for customers to find you. Simplicity is key to ensuring that your domain sticks in the minds of your audience.
• Short: Keep it concise to avoid errors. Shorter domain names are not only easier to remember but also reduce the likelihood of typos. This can be particularly important when sharing your domain verbally or in print.
• Unique: Ensure it doesn’t infringe on any existing trademarks. Conduct thorough research to avoid potential legal issues and ensure that your domain stands out in the crowded online landscape.

Step 2: Check Domain Availability

Once you have a domain name in mind, you need to check its availability. You can do this through a domain registrar. If your preferred domain is taken, consider alternative versions or different extensions like .net, .org, or a country-specific extension such as .com.au and the new .au direct for Australia. These alternatives can still effectively represent your brand while ensuring you secure a domain that works for you.

The availability of your chosen domain can affect your branding strategy, so it’s important to be flexible and creative. Consider how different extensions might appeal to your target audience or align with your industry. This exploration can lead to discovering a domain that not only fits your brand but also enhances it. Here is a link to Conetix Domain search page.

Step 3: Register the Domain

After confirming availability, proceed to register the domain. This involves purchasing the rights to use the domain for a specified period, typically a year.
You can register your domain direct with Conetix as we have over 500 different domain extensions from .ac to .zone.

Step 4: Set Up an Email Hosting Service

Once your domain is registered, you need to set up email hosting. This service allows you to send and receive emails using your domain. Conetix offers various email hosting solutions as part of our package, or Conetix can provide the licenses for the following email solutions:

• Google Workspace: Offers a comprehensive suite of productivity tools alongside email hosting.
• Microsoft Office 365: Known for its robust security features and integration with Microsoft Office applications.

Choosing the right email hosting service is critical for ensuring reliable communication. Consider factors such as storage capacity, ease of use, integration capabilities, and customer support when making your decision.

Configuring Your Domain and Email

Once you have your domain and email hosting in place, the next step is to configure your settings to ensure seamless operation. This involves technical steps that are crucial for establishing a reliable email system.

Step 5: Configure DNS Settings

To ensure your email works correctly, you’ll need to configure the DNS settings for your domain. This typically involves setting MX records, which tell email servers where to deliver your emails. Your email hosting provider will provide the specific settings you need to enter. Proper configuration is essential to prevent issues with email delivery and ensure your emails reach their intended recipients.

Additionally, configuring SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records can enhance your email security and deliverability. These settings help protect your domain from being used for phishing or spam and increase the likelihood that your emails will successfully land in your recipients’ inboxes.

Our support team at Conetix will manage this process for you.

Step 6: Create Email Accounts

With everything set up, you can start creating email accounts. Think strategically about the email addresses you’ll need, such as:

• info@yourdomain.com for general inquiries.
• support@yourdomain.com for customer service.
• sales@yourdomain.com for sales-related queries.

These accounts help organize your communication and ensure that emails are directed to the appropriate teams or individuals. Having a structured email system also improves response times and customer satisfaction.

Consider creating role-based email addresses for different departments or functions within your business. This not only aids in organisation but also provides a professional image to clients and partners who interact with your business.

Tips for Maintaining Your Domain and Email

Having set up your domain and email, consider the following practices to ensure smooth operation and maintain the integrity of your communication channels:

• Regularly Update Your DNS Settings: Keep your DNS records for your email updated according to your email hosting provider’s recommendations.
• Renew Your Domain Promptly: To avoid losing your domain, renew it before it expires. Setting up auto-renewal can prevent accidental lapses and ensure uninterrupted access to your domain and email services.
• Monitor Email Security: Use spam filters and antivirus software to protect your email accounts from phishing and malware attacks. Implementing strong security measures safeguards your business from potential threats and enhances trust with your customers.
• Conduct Regular Backups: Regularly back up your emails and important data to prevent data loss. Having a reliable backup solution in place ensures that you can recover your information in the event of a technical failure or cyberattack.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

To ensure success with your domain and email setup, be aware of common pitfalls that can undermine your efforts:

• Neglecting Privacy Protection: When registering a domain, consider purchasing privacy protection to keep your personal information confidential. This prevents your contact details from being publicly accessible, reducing the risk of spam and identity theft.
• Overlooking Backup Solutions: Ensure you have a backup solution in place to prevent data loss. Regular backups protect your business from accidental deletions, server failures, and other unforeseen events that could jeopardize your data.
• Ignoring Scalability: Choose a domain and email service that can grow with your business. As your business expands, your email needs may change, so it’s important to select a service that offers flexibility and scalability to accommodate future growth.

Choosing the right domain for your email can make a significant difference in how your business is perceived.

By registering a domain and setting up a professional email address, you establish credibility, enhance your brand, and gain control over your communication channels.

Follow the steps outlined in this guide to embark on a path to email success. With the right domain and email setup, you’re equipped to make a strong impression on every email you send, building a foundation for lasting customer relationships and business growth.

Other Useful Links

SPF Guide
Optimising Email Delivery

1.  April 01 2025 Price Increase

Starting April 1, 2025, new and renewing monthly billed annual contract subscriptions will cost 5% more than annual upfront payment subscriptions.

2. Changes to billing frequency and terms

•  Mid-term billing frequency changes for triennial offers will no longer be allowed
• Mid-term billing frequency changes from monthly billing on annual subscription term can not be changed to yearly. The billing change to yearly can only be made prior to renewal subscription expiry term date.

3. MFA requirement for Microsoft 365 admin centre

On February 3, 2025, Microsoft is going to start enforcing MFA for all users who access the Microsoft 365 admin center portal. Review the latest information and timeline.

4. Office 2016/2019 EOS in October 2025

On October 14, 2025, Microsoft support will end for all Office 2016 and 2019 suites, standalone apps, and servers.  After that date, Microsoft will no longer provide security fixes, bug fixes, or technical support for these products.  See the product list here.

Running a Joomla! Site comes with the same complexities and challenges as any CMS and requires attention to security, updates and management tasks.

With most web hosts offering a Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP (LAMP) stack it is a simple process to get your Joomla! site running juts about anywhere. The challenging bit has always been how to secure Joomla! and or manage your Joomla! Instance or instances.

The managing of a single Joomla! Site can be time consuming and running multiple Joomla! Sites can add an extra layer of complexity and additional time resource both of which costs money.

To manage Joomla! easier, the good people from Plesk have come up with a Plesk Extension called Joomla! Toolkit. As the name suggests it’s a web Toolkit that takes out the time consuming complexities of managing your Joomla! Sites.

The following are a few key features that the Joomla! Toolkit gives you and your Joomla! hosting. 

I make note that not all web hosts provide the Joomla! Toolkit and if you are running your own Plesk VPS you will need to buy the license however I am sure that when you see the benefit of the Joomla! Toolkit, you will either want to change to a Web Host who does support the Joomla! Toolkit or purchase the Joomla! Toolkit Plesk Extension. 

Joomla! Toolkit – Mission Control

The Joomla! Toolkit provides you with what Plesk terms as its Mission Control. This gives you a single overview of all your Joomla! Instances on your server and the ability to manage all of them from this single view.
You can quickly see if there are any updates required, your backup status and the health of your Joomla! Instances.

With the Joomla! Toolkit you can use the one click installer which does everything from start to finish. It downloads the latest version of Joomla! And automatically installs it to your hosting environment. It also creates and manages the database and with its automatic configuration and hardening of instances you can quickly spin up a secure ready to use instance of Joomla!.

In most instances you generally already have a Joomla! Site and are migrating from one host to another so there is no requirement to do a fresh install, this is ok as the Joomla! Toolkit has the ability to scan your server for any new instances of Joomla! And it automatically adds it to the toolkit ready for you to manage.

Once you have your Joomla! Instances running on your server the 1-Click hardening feature allows you to scan all Joomla! Instances with the security scanner to identify and protect your core installations. You then can choose what you wish to harden and secure.

As we all know keeping your Joomla! Up to date with the latest security releases is essential. With millions of bots scouring the Internet looking for vulnerabilities having an up to date website is key. The hackers are not specifically targeting you; they are simply looking for an out of date system that they can use to exploit other sites or launch other malicious activity like DDOS attacks. Remember you have to get your security right every time the hacker only needs to get it right once. 

With the Joomla! Toolkit you can set up the automatic update system that will update your Joomla! Instance when a new release for core, components, module or plugin is released. It will also update your template if available. This setting is fully controlled by you and can be disabled or set for updating Bug Fixes only or feature releases and bug fixes.

Prior to any automatic update the Joomla! Toolkit can take a snapshot backup of your site just in case you need to roll back. You can also view every backup action in the audit log.

You also have the ability to set up scheduled backups with daily or weekly options. This backup is independent of Plesk Backup and gives you that granular control over your Joomla! Instance itself. 

If time is money then the Joomla! Toolkit is well worth the small investment for a Plesk license if you are running your own Plesk Server. Feel free to grab a Plesk license from our store.

 If you have a Conetix VPS we can provide you with an upgraded key and install the Joomla! Toolkit for you. 

If you are on a web host that can not provide the Joomla! Toolkit please reach out to one of our team here at Conetix. We provide FREE migrations and we can even provide your first month for FREE so you can instantly take advantage of the Joomla! Toolkit.

Sitejet website builder is a versatile DIY Web builder designed with a beginner-friendly WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, making it accessible for users of all skill levels.

This feature allows you to design your websites visually, without needing to write any code. The intuitive drag-and-drop interface ensures that even those with no technical background can create professional-looking websites quickly and easily.

Use the simplicity of Sitejets intuitive design platform yet still have the power and ability to add own custom code using Sitejets custom code editor to add JavaScript and HTML.

Professional templates, crafted for every industry.

One of the standout features of Sitejet is its extensive library of over 140 pre-built templates. These templates cater to various industries and design preferences, providing a solid foundation for any website project.

You can select a template that suits your needs and customize it to your liking, saving significant time and effort in the design process. With new template designs being added monthly you will always have options.

This makes Sitejet an ideal solution for both single-page and multipage website projects.

eCommerce ready

If you are wanting to setup a ecommerce shop and sell a number of products via a secure online store. Sitejet’s eCommerce feature is designed to offer flexibility and functionality for businesses looking to sell online. Sitejet eCommerce Powered by Ecwid; provides a 14Day FREE trial and then options on number of products you wish to sell starting from $12.49/month US$.

It provides a robust platform for creating and managing an online store, complete with features like customizable product listings, secure payment gateways, and an intuitive checkout process.

Sitejet – Built for SEO.

Sitejet is designed with SEO-friendly features to help websites achieve better visibility in search engine results. The platform provides tools and best practices that ensure sites are optimized for search engines, enhancing their chances of ranking higher and attracting more organic traffic.

Sitejet’s SEO capabilities are designed to help your website rank better in search engines and drive more organic traffic. The platform includes a comprehensive set of tools to optimize your site effectively, ensuring it meets SEO best practices. With its intuitive interface, even users without extensive SEO knowledge can implement key optimizations.

Here are some of Sitejet’s standout SEO features:

• SEO Configuration Tab: Easily configure meta tags like titles and descriptions.
• Clean URL Structure: Automatically generate SEO-friendly URLs.
• Image Optimization: Use Alt text for better image indexing and ranking.
• Google Analytics & Search Console Integration: Monitor site traffic and performance.
• Page Performance Monitoring: Evaluate and improve page load times and overall performance.
• Open Graph Settings: Control how your website appears on social media for better click-through rates.

These features ensure your website is fully optimized for search engines and social media alike, helping you maintain strong online visibility.

Integrations for all your needs.

Sitejet offers a range of popular integrations that enhance its functionality and provide greater flexibility for you. These integrations include Google Analytics for tracking and analyzing website performance, Zapier for automating workflows across multiple apps, and Mailchimp for seamless email marketing campaigns.

Additionally, Sitejet integrates with social media platforms, customer relationship management (CRM) tools, and third-party APIs, making it a versatile solution for your business.

Built in security without the stress of updates.

One of the standout features of Sitejet is its robust security, particularly when compared to popular CMS platforms like WordPress and Joomla. With Sitejet, you don’t have to worry about constantly updating plugins, themes, or underlying code to protect your website from vulnerabilities.

This built-in security advantage means that your website remains secure without the regular maintenance headaches often associated with other platforms, where missing even a single update can expose your site to potential threats.

Freedom to choose your webhost.

Unlike other website builders on the market the biggest key advantages of using Sitejet as a website builder is the freedom it provides by not locking you into a specific hosting platform. Unlike other website builders like Wix or Shopify with Sitejet, you’re free to choose your preferred hosting environment, whether it’s Plesk, cPanel, or any web host that supports Sitejet.

This flexibility ensures that you maintain control over your site, making it easier to migrate to different hosts without any limitations or proprietary restrictions holding you back.

Sitejet website builder is now available FREE with any Conetix Web Hosting plans.

This article will explore why backing up your Microsoft 365 data is not just a good practice but an essential one for ensuring business continuity and protecting against data loss.

The Myth of Built-In Backup

One of the most common misconceptions about Microsoft 365 is that because it’s a cloud service, data is automatically backed up and fully protected by Microsoft. While Microsoft does provide robust infrastructure and redundancy measures, these are primarily designed to ensure service availability and prevent data loss on their end—think hardware failures, natural disasters, and other large-scale events.

However, when it comes to specific instances like accidental deletion, malicious attacks, or compliance requirements, the responsibility to recover lost data often falls on the organization itself. Microsoft operates on a shared responsibility model, meaning that while they manage the infrastructure, the onus of data protection at the application level—emails, files, and other user-generated content—rests with you, the business owner.

Common Causes of Data Loss in Microsoft 365

Data loss can happen in many ways, and relying solely on the built-in recovery features of Microsoft 365 can leave you vulnerable. Here are some of the most common causes of data loss:

Accidental Deletion

It’s surprisingly easy for users to accidentally delete emails, files, or even entire folders. While Microsoft 365 does offer a recycle bin or similar feature for restoring deleted items, these are often only temporary solutions with retention limits. If a user deletes a file and doesn’t realize it within the retention period, that data could be lost permanently.

Malicious Insiders

While we like to think of our colleagues as trustworthy, insider threats remain a real concern. A disgruntled employee might delete critical files or emails, and by the time the issue is discovered, it may be too late to recover the data through traditional means.

External Cyber Threats

Phishing, ransomware, and other cyber threats are on the rise, and even with strong security measures in place, no system is entirely immune. In the event of a successful attack, data can be corrupted, encrypted, or deleted altogether. Having a backup ensures that you can restore your data to a point before the attack occurred, minimizing downtime and loss.

Legal and Compliance Requirements

Certain industries are subject to strict data retention and protection regulations. Failure to comply can result in hefty fines and legal consequences. Relying on the default settings of Microsoft 365 might not meet the specific retention needs for your industry, and without a proper backup solution, you could find yourself in violation of these regulations.

Retention Policy Gaps

Microsoft 365 offers configurable retention policies, but they can be complex to manage and may not cover all your needs. There might be gaps in what’s retained and for how long, leaving some data vulnerable to permanent deletion.

The Benefits of a Dedicated Microsoft 365 Backup Solution

Investing in a dedicated backup solution for your Microsoft 365 environment offers several key benefits that go beyond what the default settings can provide.

Comprehensive Protection

A third-party backup solution can provide more granular and comprehensive coverage across all Microsoft 365 applications, including Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. This means you can protect everything from individual emails to entire Teams channels, ensuring that no critical data is left unprotected.

Extended Retention Policies

With a dedicated backup solution, you can customize your retention policies to meet your specific business needs, ensuring that data is kept for as long as required by your industry regulations or internal policies. This gives you greater control and peace of mind knowing that your data is safe, no matter how long it needs to be retained.

Quick and Easy Recovery

In the event of data loss, time is of the essence. A dedicated backup solution allows for quick and easy recovery, minimizing downtime and ensuring that your business can continue to operate with minimal disruption. Whether you need to recover a single file or an entire mailbox, the process is straightforward and efficient.

Protection Against Human Error

Accidents happen, but with a dedicated backup solution, you can easily recover from them. Whether a file is accidentally deleted or an entire folder is misplaced, having a backup means that you can restore the data quickly, without the need for complicated procedures or extended downtime.

Defence Against Cyber Threats

In the event of a ransomware attack or other cyber threat, a backup solution provides a reliable way to restore your data to its pre-attack state. This ensures that you can recover quickly and avoid paying ransoms or dealing with the extended consequences of data loss.

Meeting Compliance Requirements

For businesses in regulated industries, a dedicated backup solution can help ensure compliance with data retention and protection regulations. This not only protects your business from legal repercussions but also builds trust with your clients and stakeholders, who can be assured that their data is being handled with the utmost care.

Choosing the Right Backup Solution for Microsoft 365

When selecting a backup solution for your Microsoft 365 environment, there are several factors to consider:

Ease of Use

The backup solution should be user-friendly, with a straightforward interface that allows for easy management and recovery of data. It should integrate seamlessly with Microsoft 365, providing a consistent and reliable backup experience.

Scalability

As your business grows, so too will your data needs. The backup solution you choose should be scalable, capable of handling an increasing volume of data without compromising performance or reliability.

Security

The backup solution should offer robust security features, including encryption, access controls, and regular security updates, to protect your data from unauthorized access and other threats.

Data Residency

Ensuring data residency for Microsoft 365 backups in Australia guarantees that all backup data is stored within Australian borders, complying with local data residency and privacy regulations. This provides businesses with peace of mind, knowing that their data is protected in Australia.

Support and Reliability

Partnering with the right people who understand Microsoft 365 and the critical importance of backup can significantly enhance your business’s resilience and data security. An expert partner provides tailored backup solutions that align with your specific needs, ensuring that vital data is always protected and recoverable. With the right solution in place, you can focus on your business, knowing that your data is safeguarded by professionals who prioritize reliability, compliance, and seamless integration.

Conclusion

Backing up your Microsoft 365 data is not just a good practice; it’s an essential component of your overall data protection strategy. With the increasing reliance on cloud services and the growing threats to data security, a dedicated backup solution is the best way to ensure that your critical business data is protected, recoverable, and compliant with industry regulations.

Don’t leave your data’s safety to chance. Invest in a comprehensive backup solution for Microsoft 365 and safeguard your business against the unexpected.

Need Assistance?

Need to know more and find the right solution for you, reach out to one of our Conetix Web Hosting wizards and they can assist.

References:

Gartner’s Market Guide for Backup as a Service: Gartner

Microsoft Service Trust Portal: Microsoft Shared Responsibility Model

Veeam Data Protection Report 2024: Veeam

Cybersecurity Ventures: Global Ransomware Damage Costs Predicted To Reach $265 Billion By 2031

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR): GDPR.eu and HIPAA Guide: HIPAA Data Retention Requirements

Probax MSP Backup for Microsoft 365: Probax.io

1. One-Click Joomla! Installation

Gone are the days of wrestling with complex installation processes. With the Plesk Joomla! Toolkit, deploying the latest version of Joomla! is as easy as a single click. This feature eliminates the hassle of manual installations, allowing you to set up a new Joomla! instance effortlessly.

Whether you’re launching a personal blog, an e-commerce website, or a corporate portal, the convenience of one-click installation saves you valuable time and effort, enabling you to focus on building and refining your website’s content and functionality.

The Joomla! Toolkit One-Click install also goes the extra mile and adds extra security features like a random prefix to your default database install it also installs the latest core and up-to-date extensions plus creates a full audit log so you can easily see all user install actions. 

2. Automated Updates and Security Checks

Keeping your Joomla! website up-to-date and secure is crucial in today’s cyber landscape. The Plesk Joomla! Toolkit automates the update process, ensuring that your Joomla! hosted Core and extensions are always running the latest versions with essential security patches applied.

Furthermore, the Joomla! toolkit performs regular security scans, detecting vulnerabilities and potential threats to your website’s integrity.

By proactively addressing security concerns and staying current with updates, you can fortify your Joomla! site against malicious attacks and ensure uninterrupted performance.

3. Backup and Restore Functionality

Data loss can be catastrophic for any website owner. Fortunately, the Plesk Joomla! Toolkit includes robust backup and restore functionality, providing peace of mind in the event of unforeseen disasters. 

With just a few clicks, you can schedule automated backups of your hosted Joomla! site, including files, databases, and configurations. Should the need arise, you can easily restore your website to a previous state, minimizing data loss and ensuring business continuity. 

Whether it’s a minor mishap or a major catastrophe, having reliable backup and restore capabilities is indispensable for safeguarding your Joomla! website’s data and preserving your hard work. 

With the added protection of the Joomla! Toolkit creates an automated backup prior to any upgrade or update you are always secure in the knowledge that you have a recovery point.

In conclusion, the Plesk Joomla! Toolkit is a game-changer for Joomla! website hosting management, offering a wealth of features that streamline workflows, enhance security, and elevate performance. 

Whether you’re a seasoned developer or a novice user, these top five features empower you to unlock the full potential of your Joomla! website with ease and confidence.

Embrace efficiency, harness innovation, and elevate your Joomla! web hosting presence with the Plesk Joomla! Toolkit today!

As part of Microsoft’s pricing policy, Microsoft increased its prices on September 1, 2023.
The increase, impacted Australian, New Zealand, Canadian, and Swiss Microsoft customers. This price increase has been put in place to ensure greater pricing consistency globally in line with prices in US dollars.

For Australia, the costs associated with Microsoft solutions in the cloud and on-premises, has now increased by 9%.
Here’s the official Microsoft announcement for your information.

Conetix as of 01 March 2024 will be bringing all Microsoft services in line with these pricing changes.

1.  March 01 2024 Price Increase

For both Microsoft direct and all resellers, Microsoft has already increased their subscription prices for Microsoft 365 on 01 September 2023.

All other product prices will also be subject to price rise of 9%

2. Contract changes from Microsoft

To date, Conetix has provided flexible pricing with month-by-month agreements for all Microsoft licensing at the annual discounted rate. For example, if you purchase from Microsoft direct the prices shown are with an annual commitment and without GST:

While we understand none of this is of benefit to consumers, unfortunately it’s a worldwide Microsoft change so all users are affected.

We’ll be doing our best to make it as smooth as possible so that your focus can be back on your business and not billing changes.

Anyone who’s worked on the backend of systems, worked in IT security, been a developer or been a system administration will tell you about the importance of having logs. WordPress is no exception to this rule and while some errors will be logged and you can increase debug logging for developer issues, WordPress doesn’t have any audit logs built in.

What are Audit Logs?

Audit logs are a collections of events and records which give you the ability to trace through what occurred in chronological order for a system. In the context of WordPress, this includes (but not limited to) events such as:

• Logins
• User modification (creation, password updates, profile updates, addition and deletion)
• Post / Page modification (create / edit / delete)
• Plugin events (installation, disabling, updates and removal)
• Theme events (installation, editing, disabling, updates and removal)
• Core WordPress (updates and similar events)
• Media file changes
• Changes to menus, tags, categories, settings and more

For each of these events, we get the exact time it occurred, the IP address the change was requested by and the user who made the change.

Why are audit logs critical?

Think of audit logs like the “black box” flight recorder in an aircraft. You don’t want to ever have to use them, but when things go wrong you want to know exactly what was going on at the time or previous to that.

For WordPress, these become critical when there’s been a change to your website which you didn’t request or worse, when malicious content has been uploaded. In the case of a malicious change, it can be very difficult to trace the root cause if it’s been properly masked.

As an example case, we recently had a site compromised where all of the themes, core and plugins were up-to-date. There was no existing compromised code within the site and the files were verified as being authentic.

A basic scan of the logs shows that there was a successful login (but no specific user), then a plugin uploaded (but no indication as to which one).

With the audit logs, we were then able to determine:

• Which user logged in
• What plugin was uploaded
• What other changes were made to the site at the same time

Are these built in to WordPress?

Sadly, no. This means you need to use a third party plugin to achieve this. We’d love to see it implemented so that it was there by default but given the complexity of WordPress these sorts of changes probably aren’t going to occur anytime soon.

This means, if you don’t have anything installed and a failure occurs then you’ve got no ability to audit actions taken on your website.

What plugins are available to offer this?

There are a number of third party plugins which do provide this. We recommend you test them to see which suits your needs the best. Some of the plugins are free while others have the basics for free and additional features available to purchase.

WP Activity Log

Cost: Free (with premium features available for a cost)
Website: https://melapress.com/wordpress-activity-log/

Stream

Cost: Free
Website: https://wp-stream.com/

Activity Log

Cost: Free
Webiste: https://wordpress.org/plugins/aryo-activity-log/

As is the case with most WordPress plugins and options, there’s probably a dozen others out there to try as well. We recommend testing these three first and if none suit your requirements then look further.

Is there anything else which should be done?

Of course, a counter point here is someone who has access to your website can also potentially scrub your audit logs and hide their trail. This could also be someone accidentally disabling or deleting your audit plugin and you’ll of course lose a copy of the records of who did this.

The solution here is to push or mirror these records off to an external service or storage point. For our Managed WordPress customers, we do this automatically to ensure we have a full audit history available even if they try to delete anything internal to WordPress.

A Pseudo Random Subdomain (PRSD) attack is a specific attack designed to send hundreds of thousands of legitimate but malicious Domain Name Service (DNS) requests at a nameserver in order to perform a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack. This can also be referred to as a DNS water torture attack but is essentially the same thing.

Instead of just flooding the server with packets like many other DDoS attacks, the packets sent are legitimate DNS requests and due to the pseudo-random nature, they’re designed to be as legitimate as possible.

These attacks are therefore quite powerful, as their legitimate nature means they can bypass many of the DDoS protections and most of the automatic mitigations of most firewalls and DDoS scrubbers (automatic filters for large attacks or malicious attacks) and therefore overwhelm most nameservers.

While the attacks aren’t new, they have been evolving rapidly in the past 12 months to exploit new and different ways to ensure the attack makes it through.

What does the attack look like?

A normal DNS query may look like this:

When your web browser goes to load a webpage (in this example, www.test.com), it needs to know what server this website is on. A DNS request will convert the name into an IP address, which then allows your browser to talk to the right server. 

For most environments, your Internet Service Provider (ISP) runs local DNS recursors which make the request on your behalf, as this allows them to cache (keep a copy of) the record to help speed up all future requests as well as other customer’s requests for the same website.

A pseudo-random DNS query will then look like this:

As you can see, there’s very little difference between the two requests. In many of these PRSD attacks, the attackers are using legitimate DNS servers such as ISP’s and larger providers such as Google to make the requests. 

However, a single request of course isn’t enough and as mentioned above, recursors cache a copy of the record so that if it receives a second request within what’s called the Time to live (or TTL for short) then it doesn’t have to ask the authoritative server again.

Instead, PRSD attacks will ensure that every request is unique by creating subdomain requests (eg www and fast123 in the example) based on dictionary words. These dictionaries can even be based on records of legitimate records used elsewhere (eg mail.test.com, blog.test.com, shop.test.com and so forth) so that the requests are as legitimate as possible.

This means that every request therefore has to reach the end authoritative server (eg your hosting provider) and it then has to process it. Because the requests are unique, any caching then at the authoritative end won’t work either so it can be hugely intensive on their infrastructure. These attacks can be in the millions and being legitimate requests, this will simply overwhelm most nameservers. 

What can be done to prevent the attacks?

This is the million dollar question. PRSD attacks in the past may have come directly from other compromised systems so the attacking IP could simply be dropped if it’s sending too many DNS queries per second. Many systems either had limits in place here or the use of firewalls and upstream DDoS scrubbers could detect abnormal packet rates and mitigate the attack.

However, modern attacks are exploiting the fact that some of the largest DNS resolvers have highly distributed infrastructure. For example, Google’s public resolver (8.8.8.8) isn’t just one server but a very large fleet of servers and services. If you make a query against their recursive server, this request to the authoritative server could come from one of hundreds of thousands of servers behind the scenes.

Because of the distributed nature of their infrastructure (required to make it so resilient), this means the requests could come from hundreds of thousands of different IP’s and from any of the countries Google has infrastructure in.  Even worse, if the system attempts to rate limit or block this IP, it also affects all other legitimate requests through Google’s servers for all other domains as well.

This leaves three key options. 

More servers

The first is to increase the size of the authoritative DNS infrastructure. If the attacks are five hundred (500) times larger than your normal traffic flow then you’ll need to scale your infrastructure out to be five hundred times larger. This also includes ensuring that your firewalls and upstream network infrastructure also scales to this point. 

As you can expect, this is a very costly approach to solving the problem so the least likely to be implemented. If you have the infrastructure spare (ie already racked and paid for), then this would be the only time this is a viable option.

Per domain limits

Instead of limiting DNS queries per IP, you would need to limit the overall DNS queries per domain. This is possible via some DNS authoritative servers or it may require a proxy service such as dnsdist to implement. 

This can require some complicated scripting to achieve, with a high likelihood of still negatively affecting the domain being attacked (or used in the attack).

Dedicated DNS DDoS protection

While this sounds like the easiest option, it could also be costly depending on your scenario. As an individual or company, you could use one of the large providers such as Akamai or Cloudflare to protect your domain. This could become quite expensive or convoluted if you have multiple domains to manage and may break integrations with your existing infrastructure, so there are a number of factors to consider.

If you’re a service provider and have thousands of domains to protect, there are options available as third party services or as dedicated on-premises hardware or VM based systems. They all of course all vary in terms of price and complexity to manage and it can be difficult to evaluate as simulation of attacks aren’t ever as accurate as the real thing.

What’s the best solution?

There is no magic answer here. The nature of these attacks means that they’ll find any weakness possible to exploit. Many of the systems require constant fine tuning as it’s a continual cat and mouse game. The moment you put effective mitigation in place, it means the nature of the attack can (and will!) vary to disrupt. 

It may also be that the solution you choose today won’t be the right solution in 1-2 years time. The key is as the threat evolves, your mitigation strategies need to evolve with it.

But, what is it really, what does it mean and is it really going to run the world? As much as I don’t want this to sound like a clickbait headline, the answer may shock you!

First, we need to start with the basics.

What is AI?

Artificial Intelligence is essentially defined as:

a simulation of basic human intelligence whereby the system can make decisions based on the information and then learn from decisions. 

Still doesn’t make sense right? 

Think back to something like the basics of riding a bike. From a human perspective, we start with training wheels until we work out balance. As our confidence builds, in a few months to a year we can ride without them.

If we had to write a software program to do the same thing, there’s an enormous amount of scenarios we need to write. We need to measure the basics such as speed to get inertia, if we drop below a certain speed we require more inputs to correct. If we ride on an uneven surface, that’s different to a bitumen one. If we ride on a slightly sloped surface, we need to compensate for it and adjust. Now put into context being on a road with others, we now need to be able to understand how cars move, what side of the road to be on and what happens at intersections and what to do if a car turns in front of us. Being Australian, we also have the added risk and complexity of being swooped by magpies (an Australian native bird which can be very territorial around nesting time).

As a programmer, if I have to write every scenario into a program on how to ride a bike this could be years and years of work, and the program would still only understand the exact scenarios I put in.

This is where AI fits in. Instead of writing every scenario line by line, we feed in the inputs (speed, ground surface, angle of the road, cars, magpies etc) and we allow the AI to build what’s called a “model” to understand how to deal with these scenarios. With a limited amount of information, the initial results won’t be perfect.

However, the AI advantage is that we can (quite efficiently) keep training this model based on more input data to generate better outcomes. It may take a toddler a year of training in the afternoon to outgrow the requirement for training wheels. As humans, we then need a few years of understanding traffic and cars before it’s safe for us to ride on the roads. AI? With the right data this could be a few hours of training to build the model. We can then put it in simulated environments to build more data and keep perfecting the model.

The key bit here is that a programmer didn’t have to write thousands of extra lines of code to keep improving the system.

Yeah OK, now I’m scared AI is taking over?!!

There’s no need to panic… yet. With the above scenario of riding a bike, what we’ve described is narrow AI. This is a system which can do a specific task and can learn to do that very well. And, this is a great thing. The more of the simple tasks which can be automated, the better. Especially in the early days of AI, this is a perfect fit for mundane tasks. For example, do you have to write a letter or email to staff in regards to cleaning the fridge out? This is a nice, simple one for AI.

One of the systems gaining the most hype recently (and for good reason) is ChatGPT. Produced by the OpenAI team, ChatGPT is a ​​generative pre-trained transformer AI system, which essentially means it can converse like a human where you can ask questions and even give feedback so it can adjust the answer.

For example, all I have to do ask for:

“Write an email to all staff, asking them to clean their items out of the fridge or it goes in the bin next Friday”

Using ChatGPT, this gives me:

Subject: Request for Fridge Cleanout

Dear All,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing to request your immediate attention to the contents of the fridge. Over the past few weeks, the fridge has become cluttered with items that are past their expiration date or no longer needed.

In order to maintain a clean and organized workspace, I am asking that all staff remove any personal items from the fridge by next Friday, February 11th. Any items left in the fridge after this date will be discarded.

Please take a moment to check the contents of the fridge and make sure that you have removed all of your belongings. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to me.

Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Best regards,

[Your Name]

You can see that with limited input, the ChatGPT system is able to expand this out into a verbose letter and even added the date (as at the time of writing this article).

What’s even better is that we’re able to tune and adjust quickly. What if this is the 5th time staff have been told? Lets ask ChatGPT to “make the letter angry”:

Subject: Urgent Request for Fridge Cleanout

Dear All,

I am writing to you with great frustration and disappointment. The contents of the fridge have become completely unacceptable and it is clear that some staff members are not taking responsibility for their own items.

I am completely fed up with the cluttered and unsanitary state of the fridge. As a result, I am giving everyone a final warning to remove their belongings by next Friday, February 11th. Any items left in the fridge after this date will be promptly thrown in the trash without exception.

This is not a request. It is an ultimatum. I expect all staff to act like professionals and take responsibility for their own belongings. If you are unable to do so, then I suggest you reconsider your place in this company.

I am beyond disappointed in the behavior of some staff members and the lack of consideration for the common area. This is a workplace, not a storage unit. I expect all staff to maintain a clean and organized environment.

Please take this email seriously and take immediate action to clean out your items from the fridge.

Best regards,

[Your Name]

You can see that we can near instantly change the tone by giving simple feedback to ChatGPT to produce the result we want. There area already tools which can analyse your existing emails and writing to mimic your personal writing style to further personalise the output too.

Is my job at risk of being replaced by AI?

This quick answer is, “it depends”.

Anything AI driven currently requires the inputs and outputs of the role to be reasonably well defined and/or ideally a repeatable process.

As shown in our letter above, it’s quite possible that positions such as Executive Assistants (EA’s) will certainly be augmented by AI but could quite genuinely be replaced within the next decade. 

Already, we have AI driven phone assistants whereby it’s able to wait on hold and then negotiate booking appointments such as a restaurant by cross-referencing a calendar to find a suitable time.

However, it’s not just EA’s. Again, thinking back to a repeatable process with defined inputs and outputs… one possible role which could be replaced is a Systems Administrator (sysadmin). I know that’ll have many in IT shocked, but let’s look at the basic flow at times:

1. An error occurs, generally a complex one which doesn’t make a lot of sense
2. Sysadmins scour Google and sites like Stack Overflow to find an exact match for the error
3. If an exact match doesn’t occur, ones similar are searched and a fix (hopefully) located.
4. A fix is then applied, then the system monitored for adverse events and to confirm if it worked.

This is of course one of many tasks sysadmins perform, but it shows how the input (the error) is defined and the output (the fix) is also able to be measured so there’s the ability to either semi-automate or replace sysadmin’s performing the role.

Other roles where this can be neatly defined include things like bookkeepers, accountants, lawyers, market research / data analysts and more.

And, this is all still narrow AI.

The shift to general AI will change all of this and quite dramatically. Essentially, at a general AI level there’s no difference between what AI can do compared to an adult human. This means being able to give it unfamiliar tasks and instructions yet still being capable of completing the job. Once we hit this point, every job can be potentially be replaced by AI.

Alright, if I’m not immediately being replaced… How can I use AI?

Excellent question and an excellent approach. We shouldn’t fear AI. Change is going to occur so it’s best we embrace it instead of avoiding it. 

Coding

Right now, the current hotness in AI is clearly ChatGPT. And with good reason. It’s a helpful tool which is simple to use yet very effective. Our letter is only one very small part of what it can do. ChatGPT can also code! For example, I asked ChatGPT to write a small function to extract the domain name from a URL. Here’s what I asked:

“Write a Groovy script to generate a filename safe, base 64 encoded URL”

Not only did it write the code, but it explained how it worked. As a programmer, even if this wasn’t 100% correct it’s a very good start! Being able to get 90% of the answer within 10 seconds and having a system explain it is an awesome start.

Image Generation

Want some images? This is where Midjourney comes in! In fact, other than the screenshots all images in this article have been generated by Midjourney. Put simply, it’s a text to image generation system. You describe the image or scene you’re trying to create, and it will start generating images which it thinks are a fit.

For example, here’s a prompt which was to create the cover image:

describe how artificial intelligence works, infographics, blueprint, detailed, line art, computing, graphics 

From this prompt, we received 4 images which Midjourney had created:

I could keep iterating through and generating variances of images and if I find one close, I can get the system to vary it or simply just generate a higher quality version. The good thing here is, for relatively low cost you can provide plenty of creative input to generate unique and hopefully very on-topic artwork and images.

Web Development

For web development, there’s already some very neat demos with the latest GPT-4 was turning a very rough sketch into a full website.

A few years ago it’d be inconceivable to think this sort of system would be available. Now in 2023, it’s instead going to be a reality. Even if the result isn’t perfect, we’ll be able to prototype and code the basics of some ideas to get rapid feedback. 

Imagine being able to quickly draw a website while sitting with a client, then present a working prototype to them minutes later? Even better, imagine if the code is of sufficient quality that you can actually build upon and implement it within hours instead of days? This is where AI will be heading in the world of web development.

… And more

Quite simply, the rate of new tools and concepts being released is hard to comprehend. There’s up to 1,000 new AI based tools and programs per week being released. Everything which was too niche and too specialised will have a number of tools developed and released within the next 12 months. Here’s just a very, very small snippet of a few tools which may be of interest:

• Jounce – AI copywriting and artwork for marketers
• 10web – AI powered WordPress
• HyperWrite – Personalised AI writing assistant
• Synthesia – AI video generation
• Superus – AI powered, automated mind mapping
• Seomatic – AI driven SEO
• Magical – AI powered meeting management
• Lavender – AI powered sales coach
• Channel – AI powered business analysis

Again, this is just a small fraction of the tools available which may help your business and assist with web development. By the time you read this article, there’s going to be thousands more .

Can AI be a villain too?

Any tool which can be used for good unfortunately also has some bad to it. There are a number of problems AI poses. It doesn’t mean we necessarily need to be afraid of it, but simply aware so we can plan around and look out for.

Firstly, in the context of narrow AI we have the issue of bias. AI doesn’t know ethics, if it’s fed millions of pages from books then it doesn’t necessarily understand views on things like racism have changed massively in the last 50 years. Some of the issues can also come from marginalised groups, whereby the content might only be very small and therefore not equally represented. It means these AI systems have to work around the issues and has certainly been one of the early issues.

Secondly, if you can get an AI system to write code for normal programs, then it can also write code for malicious programs. With ransomware being such a lucrative, criminal income then some of these tools (despite systems trying to block it) will be used to produce new and malicious code.

Move forward to general AI and we have a huge risk factor. A system making very complex and intelligent decisions. Anything we can train the system to do good, someone will have the capability to do the opposite.

The trouble here is, there’s nothing we can do to stop this. It’s like building stronger cars and expecting them not to be used in ram raids or as getaway cars. There’s simply always going to be an element of human society which will misuse and exploit for personal gain. 

Instead of fearing it however, we simply need to plan for it. We already (mostly!) secure our passwords and ensure systems remain locked down. There’s already scripts and hackers constantly scouring the internet to find systems to exploit, all that changes is how clever these systems could be. What may have been an optional lockdown will become a mandatory one to keep your system protected.

What’s next with AI?

As only the last two iterations of ChatGPT have shown, things are improving at an exponential rate. We haven’t seen a rise in technology change occur this quickly ever (even back to when computers were first invented), so there’s going to be lots of excitement and some definite bumps in the road.

My prediction is that things will change from “I wonder what AI could do here” to “how did we ever do without it”. Especially where AI can take away the ultra repetitive tasks, we’re going to see things advance and evolve rapidly and it definitely will disrupt a number of areas across different industries.

Even in the short term (within the next 12 months), if you’re not using ChatGPT or a similar system then you’re already falling behind. More and more programs are going to be integrating GPT style systems into their existing systems to give them an edge over the competition.

The important bit here isn’t to fear this change, but embrace and adapt. Government regulation will be very slow to adapt (as usual) and there’s going to be ethical questions about where AI should or shouldn’t be used but doing nothing simply isn’t viable. For example, can you trust an AI doctor over a human one?  

Unlike fictional things like Skynet however, we’ll remain in control so it’s all about the best use of the technology. As an avid technology enthusiast, I’m super excited to see how our AI future pans out!