Our new product StopTheHacker protects your website and your website’s visitors from malicious code injections, attacks and infections. StopTheHacker is complementary to your anti-spam, anti-virus, and network firewalls. There is no software for you to install and there is no need for you to change anything in order to take advantage of this powerful security tool.

For example, if your website uses 3rd party plug-ins or scripts, StopTheHacker is the perfect solution to identify if a hacker has found a weakness in these scripts to attack your website.

Features include:

- Daily scans of your entire website (not just a subset)
- Find out if a hacker has infected your website with known and unknown malware plus get a detailed report to help you clean the infection
- Find out if your website is blacklisted by Google, Yahoo and Bing, and Spam, Malware, DNS Blacklists

Click here to order StopTheHacker today!

                          

One of the most requested changes is that our Web Hosting packages can now be paid for on a quarterly or bi-yearly basis, giving you more options to control how you pay for your web hosting. Our Home & Pro packages also qualify for a free domain name when you pay quarterly!

We’ve also updated various instant-install web apps to the latest versions, as well as adding a whole host of new web apps for you to enjoy! Some of the new web apps we’ve added include;

MODX Open Source CMS
MODX is a content management platform offering you the ability to build sites quickly, easily – and most importantly – creatively. MODX is extremely versatile and has been a popular customer request.

Joomla CMS 2.5
Joomla has continued to develop in leaps and bounds over the years, and 2.5 follows version 1.7 in extending the CMS’s functionality further. Joomla 2.5 is a significant release and there are plenty of new features and improvements.

Don’t forget if you have any one-click install web apps you want to see added, let us know in the comments, we’re happy to consider adding it to our line-up!

                          

Rather than having set packages, like most other providers, our customers can now tailor every aspect of their VPS to their own requirements. The number of CPU cores available, the ammount of memory, hard disk space, operating system and control panel are now totally customiseable. Using our new “sliders” (which, apart from being functional, are a lot of fun to use!) customers are now able to choose the exact ammount of disk space, ram or CPU power.

The best part is, you can change these specifications at any time from the control panel. If you need more memory and CPU power for a short time, for example due to a particular event, you can add and remove this on-the-fly. This means your server is able to grow with you easily and quickly.

You can create your own custom VPS, with prices starting at just £9.99, by clicking here.

                          

The BBC

The website of the BBC has changed dramatically from it’s early days.  Starting out as a basic frames based website with simple splash page, today bbc.co.uk is a major news and information portal.

BBC site in 1997

BBC website today

Google

The website of Google remains very similar to the day when it was first created, however it has gained a cleaner look over the years.

Google in 2002

Google Today

Coca-Cola

It’s hard to tell which of these two websites is older, Coca-Cola’s website has always had impressively modern design over the years.

Coca-Cola in 2003

Coca-Cola Today

The Guardian

Another example of how a simple button website has been fleshed out into a modern news website.

Guardian in 2006

Guardian Today

Nominet

The Nominet website has changed from a simple HTML page to a modern, functional website.

Nominet in 1997

Nominet Today

The Hosting Folks

We couldn’t end without looking at how our own website (and name!) has changed over the years.

Flow Internet in 2004

The Hosting Folks

                          

During the promotional period, all our monthly hosting products will be available for just 99p for the first month! This promotion does not apply to yearly web hosting products.

Our packages inclued access to unlimited bandwidth, MySQL databases and Email boxes. They also come with a full version of website builder, an iPhone / Android web hosting control panel and a library of over 65 one click install web apps including WordPress, Joomla and OpenCart.

Click here to find our more about our web hosting and why choosing the right web host matters!

                          

Few hackers target the web host directly, with all the money web hosts such as ourselves spend on security and monitoring it is simply too difficult to gain access. Instead they go directly after the webmaster by downloading a virus on to their PC and getting the FTP log in details so often stored as an unprotected flat text file within software such as Filezilla.

What do they do with the information?

Once they have direct access to your website’s files there are any number of actions they can take:

- Insert links in to your site & create link farms
- Capture your member’s information
- Links to malware
- Spread viruses
- Destroy your site

How do you stop them?

Because they are targeting your PC make sure your virus protection up to date. Don’t put off the updates until ‘next week’ or when you can be bothered, get in to a routine of installing the latest patches e.g. on a Sunday afternoon whilst you are out or at night when you are asleep.

The easiest way to prevent access is to not have the information to be found in the first place. Don’t store log in details on your local PC unprotected e.g. in the FTP software’s auto login. Having to manually log in will literally add 10 seconds to your day and when you think of it like that its time well spent if it means your site in not compromised.

Regularly change your FTP password with a strong, and ideally random, password using capitals, numbers and extra characters. As well as a strong password, rather than have FTP access permanently enabled disable FTP access when you don’t need it.

As mentioned above, hackers will identify the vulnerabilities found within popular 3rd party software such as WordPress. If you use any CMS that allows plug-ins to be installed make sure you only get them from trusted sources and research them fully online (i.e. don’t do it blindly). This is also true of any 3rd party scripts you choose to use from sites such as hotscripts.com.

How to monitor if your site has been hacked?

One of the most popular reasons hackers go after sites is to essentially create a massive link farm to boost the search ranking of another site they own which is the money maker. A good example of this in action is the Haiti disaster which was targeted by fraudsters capturing bank details of people wanting to donate money to the relief programs. Many started by searching for charities through Google and clicking on the highest ranked sites, some of which were fraudsters boosted by their hacked site links. Monitor your website’s outbound links by checking Google webmaster tools or using a tool like http://validator.w3.org/checklink. It is also worth checking your directory in an FTP client on regular basis to spot any irregularities or any files/ folders that you didn’t create.

What to do about it if you have been hacked?

If you find out your site has been hacked the first step is to turn off FTP access to prevent them gaining further access. Once you have done that change your FTP log in details and run a full virus scan on your PC.

To remove any changes they may have made, rather than manually editing your files and risk missing anything, restore the website using the version you have backed up. Backing up your website is really quick and easy and completely free through your control panel. To make sure you always have the latest version of your site we strongly recommend you back up your website using this facility whenever you make a change to your website.

Backing up your website files:
- Log in to your hosting control panel
- In ‘files’ click on ‘backup/restore‘
- Follow the on screen instructions

Backing up your database:
- Log in to your hosting control panel
- In ‘Web tools’ click on ‘MySQL Databases‘
- In ‘Manage MySQL Databases’ choose which databases you want to back up and click ‘Now’

You can also download and store a local copy of your database through phpMyAdmin using the ‘Export’ function.

Backing up your website and databases literally takes a couple of clicks of the mouse and can save a lot of pain and heartache down the line!

                          

WP Beginner
WP Beginner is a great introduction to WordPress, with lots of help and useful advice. Even if you’re beyond the stage of needing a beginner’s guide, WP Beginner offers something for everyone with free themes, plugins and tutorials.

WP Themes
If you want to keep up to date with the latest WordPress theme news, then WPThemes.com is a great website to bookmark. As well as providing news and links to themes from other websites, it boasts an extensive collection of themes, plus useful hacks and plugins.

WP View
Get some inspiration from this easy to navigate WordPress showcase, which focuses on original uses of WordPress divided into handy categories. It’s worth browsing for ideas, particularly if you want to use WordPress creatively.

Dig WP
Dig WP provides a comprehensive collection of hints and tips for using WordPress. Just use the ‘Category’ tags in the sidebar to find your way around and uncover a wealth of practical advice for all levels of expertise.

WP Plugins
Introducing itself as the ‘WordPress App Store’, WP Plugins helps you sell your plugins or commission particular plugin projects. If you’re good at coding, you may want to offer your services as some plugin authors are apparently earning four figures per month.

WP Candy
WP Candy is a community-based source of WordPress information offering reviews, editorials, interviews, tutorials and even podcasts on a variety of topics. This website is particularly useful for advanced users and those looking to extensively develop their WordPress installation.

New WP Themes
This website offers over 200 themes free for both personal and commercial use. Unlike many free theme websites, each theme benefits from close attention to detail and a nice finish. The themes are flexible for those who like to heavily customise their final look and feel, but are comprehensive enough to use without much tweaking.

WP Mojo
WP Mojo offers links to over 800 themes from a variety of websites. Organised by category, it’s easy to sort through themes by purpose (e.g. magazines, e-commerce, free), original author or style. One worth bookmarking for future reference.

We Love WP
Submit your WordPress-powered website to this well-designed gallery, or vote on other people’s websites. Submission and voting are both quick and simple.

WordPress.tv
WordPress.tv is a fantastic resource for those who prefer video guides to plain text. As well as how-tos, the website also features talks from key figures such as Matt Mullenweg, and from events such as WordCamp.

                          

Textpattern
Textpattern is a standards-compliant content management system with an intuitive admin control panel and an active community. It’s surprisingly powerful yet simple to use, and benefits from a wide range of plugins and unlimited authors per install.

Pixelpost
If you’re into photography yourself or have clients who want a gallery or photoblog, then Pixelpost may be the perfect solution. You can get set up and running in seconds with our one-click install, and there are plenty of free templates to choose from if you don’t want to create your own.

Mantis
Need to track bugs within your internal systems or for the software you create? Mantis is a great free bug tracking system with a large array of features.

PHProjekt
Looking for a way to get more organised? PHProjekt is a full-scale project management system ideal for agencies and businesses who have multiple projects on the go. PHProjekt is extremely well-structured and ideal for tracking project progress and keeping all the team members up to date with developments.

phpMyFAQ
Add an FAQ or knowledge base to your website in seconds with phpMyFAQ. It’s easy to get set up and running, and you retain full control over the look, feel and functionality as it’s self-hosted.

We’re always taking requests for (non-Magento!) web apps, so please leave a comment below if there are any you’d like to see.

                          

VPS has been a popular request for a while now, and we’ve had plenty of tweets, comments, emails and even tickets about how you just can’t wait to get your hands on one. If that sounds like you, you can head over to our VPS specs and ordering page without looking back.

What are VPS?

VPS (aka ‘virtual private servers’ or ‘virtual servers’) bridge the gap between shared web hosting and dedicated servers. A physical server is divided into various virtual servers so you benefit from enhanced stability and control over what’s installed, but the cost is much lower than a full dedicated server with the same spec. VPS provide a flexible, scalable hosting option for those looking for greater control over their websites.

Why choose a VPS?

There are many reasons to choose a virtual private server from The Hosting Folks, including:

• Power: A VPS handles intensive software (such as Magento) with ease.
• Cost effectiveness: Our VPS start at just £9.99 per month and you can host multiple websites with enhanced security and stability.
• Instant, free set up: Combined with our standard ‘cancel anytime’ policy and no hidden costs.

Specs and pricing

We know that money is on a lot of people’s minds, so we’ve made our prices as competitive as possible without compromising on quality. Our base VPS package starts from just £9.99 per month, and includes unlimited bandwidth, RAID 10, and a whole lot more.

Our VPS are brand new Dell PowerEdge servers housed in our state-of-the-art UK data centre, and you still get the same 24/7 UK support along with all the other advantages of hosting with The Hosting Flks. You can choose from various Windows or Linux operating systems, and we’ll add more based on popular demand.

                          

Because we manage all this in-house and don’t use a 3rd party like fantastico, we can pick and choose the best software and make sure it is always up to date! We currently have over 66 one click install web apps to choose from (and each of them running from the latest versions) including:

- WordPress 3.2.1
- Joomla 1.7.1
- Drupal 7.8
- AWStats 7.0
- Open Web Analytics V1.4.1
- OpenCart 1.5.1.3
- Concrete 5.4.2.1
- Prestashop 1.4.4.1
- phpBB 3.0.9
- And many (many) more!

If there are any you would like to see installed let us know and we will look in to it!