[Updated 6/6/18] Protect Your Router, Now (VPNFilter Malware)
Cyber Actors Target Home and Office Routers and Networked Devices Worldwide
Note: Updates will be added to the bottom of this post. On, 6/6/2018, additional router models were added to the list of affected devices.
You may have heard, in recent news reports, about malware called VPNFilter, that has compromised “hundreds of thousands” of home and office routers.
It’s important that all Internet users take action to secure their Internet router to avoid very real negative consequences. The items below briefly describe what steps are necessary. For those who are uncomfortable with any of the steps, after step number one, please contact Widomaker, a local computer shop, or the Support Department of the manufacturer of your Internet router, for guidance.
Memorial Day 2018 (Closed)
Widomaker will be closed on, Monday, May 28, 2018, for Memorial Day.
[Resolved] DSL Outage in Williamsburg Area on 5/11/2018
[Updates will be added to the bottom of this post]
Based on recent trouble reports, it appears there is a telephone company outage that is affecting most DSL Internet customers in the, Williamsburg, VA, area. The outage appears to have started around, 5:00PM, on Friday, May 11th, 2018.
New E-mail Platform Coming Soon & Wilma Server Retirement
Introduction
There are some upcoming changes related to @widomaker.com e-mail accounts, e-mail settings, and pricing for e-mail accounts.
WordPress Users Must Update Manually to 4.9.4
Attention: All website hosting customers who use the WordPress content management system on their websites, please see below…
A Reminder About Phishing E-mail Messages
Reminder… Widomaker will never ask for your password, credit card, or other personal information via e-mail! Make sure to never provide that type of information in response to an unsolicited e-mail message.
[Resolved] Partial Network Outage (RDU Datacenter)
As of 5:30pm, on Thursday, January 18th, 2018, one of Widomaker’s server providers has experienced an unexpected network outage at one of their datacenters. They are aware of the issue and are working to resolve the outage.
Plesk Web Hosting Server Network Issue on 12/11/17
As of about, 3:00pm ET, on Dec. 11, 2017, Widomaker’s Plesk web hosting server, that provides services to customers using their own domain names to host web pages and/or e-mail, is experiencing a partial network-related service issue. This issue only affects web hosting customers using Widomaker’s Plesk hosting server. The server and network provider has provided the following information:
We appear to be experiencing a partial network-related service issue that is service affecting for some customers. We are aware of the problem and are busy trying to get it to resolution. Our technicians will provide further details once the issue has been resolved. Our number one priority is completely restoring service to optimal levels for you and any other affected party. We sincerely apologize for any problems this issue is causing for you and want to assure you that we are on top of it.
Affected customers may be unable to open their web site, or access e-mail, until the issue is resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and hope that the server provider resolves the network issue quickly.
[Resolved 10am] Mail Server (Wilma) Down Friday 12/8/17
Beginning around 9:00am on, Friday, December 8, 2017, one of our servers (Wilma) experienced unplanned downtime. We have contacted the server provider to investigate. We are waiting for an update.
The affected server handles e-mail for customers with widomaker.com (or tni.net) e-mail addresses. Access to e-mail is temporarily unavailable. It also handles Widomaker’s web page, which is temporarily unavailable.
Hopefully the server provider will have the problem resolved, shortly. We apologize for the inconvenience. Updates will be posted here (http://weblog.widomaker.com), as well as Widomaker’s Facebook and Twitter pages.
[Update 9:22am] Our server provider has responded to our trouble report:
We’re currently aware of and investigating an issue that may be impacting your service. We expect to have the service restored soon.
[Update 9:45am] The network issue affecting the Wilma server appears to have been corrected. E-mail access and access to Widomaker’s web page appears to have been restored. We are still waiting for another update from our server provider to let us know if the issue is completely resolved.
[Update 10:00am] The server provider has confirmed the issue is resolved.
Maintenance/Downtime 9am-1pm 11/26/17
On Sunday, November 26, 2017, one of our server providers will conduct maintenance on the underlying equipment providing several of our servers. Between 9:00am and 1:00pm, those servers may be shutdown and some services may be unavailable as the maintenance is performed. The maintenance will only affect the following services:
- E-mail accounts with addresses that end in widomaker.com or tni.net
- Widomaker’s home page (www.widomaker.com) and members’ page (home.widomaker.com)
Web and e-mail hosting accounts with their own domain name will not be affected. DSL Internet service will not be affected.
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