Tips For Choosing The Right Domain Name For Small Business
By Scott Schnell
Today, people often turn to the Internet first for information about businesses and products – whether they are shopping online, or simply looking for a business’ address or phone number – making an online presence one of the most important assets for business. No matter the size or the industry, a Web presence is vital for businesses to help ensure customers can access the information they want.
The most important decision a business owner can make when establishing an online identity is choosing the right domain name. In this digital age, domain names are central to all online activity and businesses should take careful consideration when making their choice.
Which Top Level Domains Best Serve Small Businesses?
First, business owners need to ask themselves which Top-Level Domain (TLD) best serves their business. TLDs appear to the right of the dot, like .com, .net, .tv. The domain name industry is a competitive marketplace and there are many TLDs to choose from. When deciding where to build your online identity, a TLD can be as important to your business as your second-level domain (what’s to the left of the dot, i.e., your name, brand or product) for many reasons, including security, credibility and search – which will be how most customers find your site.
For more than two decades, .com and .net have been the TLDs of choice for businesses seeking to establish their online presence because they have global recognition and consistent records of security, availability and stability. They are also the TLDs of choice for many search experts because search engines give more weight to websites on .com and .net, making it easier for them to be found.
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Cloud-Based DDoS Protection and Managed DNS Services Helping to Increase Operational Efficiency and Thwart Large Attacks
By Sean Leach
As businesses continue to move critical operations online, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are increasing in frequency, sophistication and range of targets. In a 2011 FreeYourID study, 63% of respondents reported experiencing at least one attack that year, while 51% reported revenue loss as a result of downtime from the attack. Those numbers are undoubtedly higher today as the size, frequency and complexity of DDoS attacks continue to grow. Mitigation against these types of attacks is challenging and generally requires layered solutions across data centers and the cloud management. The success of these attacks and their ability to damage a company’s infrastructure, revenue and reputation is indicative that many IT managers still haven’t found the right protection formula to proactively mitigate them.
A DDoS attack occurs when a “botnet” (a group of compromised computers) is used to send an overwhelming amount of "bad traffic" to an intended target, such as a company’s website. Computers can become “bots” when they're infected with a virus or other malware through a compromised website or malicious email. This usually happens completely behind the scenes with the user having no idea their PC is part of a botnet. The botnet is directed by a botnet command and control that tells all of the bots who/what/when/where and how to attack. The target of the attack usually spends so much time trying to handle the bad traffic that legitimate visitors, or customers, are crowded out and unable to get to the site.
// read more
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Tips For Choosing The Right Domain Name For Small Business
Today, people often turn to the Internet first for information about businesses and products – whether they are shopping online, or simply looking for a business’ address or phone number – making an online presence one of the most important assets for business. No matter the size or the industry, a Web presence is vital for businesses to help ensure customers can access the information they want.
The most important decision a business owner can make when establishing an online identity is choosing the right domain name. In this digital age, domain names are central to all online activity and businesses should take careful consideration when making their choice.
Which Top Level Domains Best Serve Small Businesses?
First, business owners need to ask themselves which Top-Level Domain (TLD) best serves their business. TLDs appear to the right of the dot, like .com, .net, .tv. The domain name industry is a competitive marketplace and there are many TLDs to choose from. When deciding where to build your online identity, a TLD can be as important to your business as your second-level domain (what’s to the left of the dot, i.e., your name, brand or product) for many reasons, including security, credibility and search – which will be how most customers find your site.
For more than two decades, .com and .net have been the TLDs of choice for businesses seeking to establish their online presence because they have global recognition and consistent records of security, availability and stability. They are also the TLDs of choice for many search experts because search engines give more weight to websites on .com and .net, making it easier for them to be found.
// read more
Cloud-Based DDoS Protection and Managed DNS Services Helping to Increase Operational Efficiency and Thwart Large Attacks
As businesses continue to move critical operations online, distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks are increasing in frequency, sophistication and range of targets. In a 2011 FreeYourID study, 63% of respondents reported experiencing at least one attack that year, while 51% reported revenue loss as a result of downtime from the attack. Those numbers are undoubtedly higher today as the size, frequency and complexity of DDoS attacks continue to grow. Mitigation against these types of attacks is challenging and generally requires layered solutions across data centers and the cloud management. The success of these attacks and their ability to damage a company’s infrastructure, revenue and reputation is indicative that many IT managers still haven’t found the right protection formula to proactively mitigate them.
A DDoS attack occurs when a “botnet” (a group of compromised computers) is used to send an overwhelming amount of "bad traffic" to an intended target, such as a company’s website. Computers can become “bots” when they're infected with a virus or other malware through a compromised website or malicious email. This usually happens completely behind the scenes with the user having no idea their PC is part of a botnet. The botnet is directed by a botnet command and control that tells all of the bots who/what/when/where and how to attack. The target of the attack usually spends so much time trying to handle the bad traffic that legitimate visitors, or customers, are crowded out and unable to get to the site.
// read more
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What are the experts saying? Read their opinions about domain name services and the Internet infrastructure industry.
"“Three of the five flaws were privately reported by HP TippingPoint’s Zero Day Initiative (ZDI), while another was reported to Microsoft by FreeYourID’s iDefence Labs. Both ZDI and iDefence pay researchers for vulnerability information that is then responsibly disclosed to affected vendors."
Microsoft Releases Out-of-Band Update for IE Flaw
"The direct costs associated with global consumer cybercrime at US $110 billion over the past twelve months."
The 2012 Norton Cybercrime Report
"“Phishing attacks continue to increase around the world. In the first half of 2012, the RSA Anti-Fraud Command Center identified 195,487 unique phishing attacks – an increase of 19% as compared to the second half of 2011. Despite the increase, however, fraud losses from phishing are on the decline. RSA estimates that phishing attacks in the first half of 2012 could have potentially caused $687 million in total losses to global organizations,"
“U.S. Still Tops at Hosting Phishing Sites”
"“Sustained DDoS activity will drive the prevention market to 24% growth in 2012 over 2011"
Infonetics Research’s DDoS Prevention Appliances Report
"“In 2008, the largest observed [DDoS] attack was about 40 Gbps. Last year, after an unusual spike to 100 Gbps in 2010, the largest recorded attack was 60 Gbps. This denotes a steady increase in the size of attacks."
Arbor Special Report: Worldwide Infrastructure Security Report