by E.I.T. Author | Aug 16, 2016 | Blog
Now this one was a new one to me, so I read this page with attentiveness. It seems that the malware can create text that doesn’t show up on the site, only on the search engine preview, which hurts your SEO and can get your site completely blocked from the search engine (Google, Bing) if you don’t get it removed. The malware is inserted with a high-rated popular plugin called 404 to 301, a plugin with over a 4.6 rating and over 70,000 downloads! You can read the entire article and the technical stuff here if you want: 404 to 301 plugin with malware . If you use this plugin, you should remove it for now, or see if they update it and fix it.
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 13, 2016 | Blog
Facebook is up and running 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, all around the globe…and it seems that EVERYONE in the WORLD is on it on the weekends especially, and even more so in the USA where it’s an election year, and so much drama is going on in the world. Instead of news sites, people go to Facebook. They pass around local, county, state, country, and world news, as well as friend and family updates and videos. Do you take it all for granted? Have you ever stopped and wondered how many data centers it takes to run Facebook, or how many SERVERS on the other hand, considering the service is FREE and you don’t have to pay for any of it?
Well I did. (wonder) So I looked it up for you. Come to find out, Facebook is pretty open about everything…their data-centers, their custom technology as far as hardware (which is custom)( …and their software!) …so if you are the curious type, check it out here: Facebook Data Centers & Servers
But if you want a number, it’s over 60,000 servers, spread out over a handful of data centers around the globe. I can’t steal all their images, so you’ll have to go there if you want to see the pictures. 🙁
![Phishing sites that look real, STAY AWAY!]()
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 11, 2016 | Blog
There are many phishing sites on the web that appear very real, and are very dangerous…especially to people who don’t understand how links and site URLs (addressing) works. Lately they seem to be duplicating news sites. I had 3 in my inbox today, one duplicating FOX NEWS, one Duplicating PEOPLE MAGAZINE, and another one. If you go to the sites, always check the address in the address bar. It will become quite clear you are not on the real site, if you please just open your eyes and look. This is very important. After looking at the following example of a fake Fox News website, pretend you got an email claiming to be from your bank. You click the link. You get to the website, and IT LOOKS JUST LIKE YOUR BANK’S WEBSITE because they have copied all the images and text verbatim. What is the very next thing you do? Well you try to log in of course. (and then find out you can not) …what you JUST DID, is you gave your bank account login credentials to the fake phishing site, and probably didn’t even realize you did it. That’s how it works. That’s why it’s so important you understand how this works.
So here is the example…here is something that came in an email, and I clicked the link for you…it really appears to be from Fox News website, doesn’t it? They often copy all the images, they create all the menus and everything to look EXACTLY like the real site, but IT IS NOT THE REAL SITE. (and it’s very easy to do, believe me. These are EVERYWHERE now.)
But if you look at it closely, in the address bar, you will see that it is NOT from Fox News, it’s from https://consumersguidedfinancial.com/ which is a phishing/marketing site, only designed to get your money, NOT give you news. if you aren’t sure where to look for the web address, look at this example, I circled it for you….
Note that you don’t need to read the entire address/URL. You only need to see the part that identifies the site, the part before the .com/.net/.org/.info/.mobi/.co/.website/.us/…or whatever top level domain URL is in use for the site. The rest of the stuff after that just identifies folders and files inside the directory structure on the server hosting the site, and has no use in this scenario.
Now HERE is a clip from the REAL Fox News website:
Quite a bit different, isn’t it? The header, the social network sharing links, even the top article is more like “real” news…from a reputable company. The key is that if something seems a little “off” it always warrants a deeper look. And the test? Of course! The address bar! Here is the real one from the URL foxnews.com :
So be careful out there. Informed is safer. There are predators out there waiting to prey on your lack of knowledge, understanding, and information. So be informed. If you have questions, find someone you trust, and ask them. You can always post questions on the Everything I.T. Facebook page, and I will gladly answer them. It’s my goal to help you stay safe. Eventually there will be discussion forum here where you can ask, but for now, go to Facebook please. Everything I.T. on Facebook (if you aren’t already reading this on Facebook, as posts go there also)
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 9, 2016 | Blog
(to download the whitepaper, click “read more” after the social network links, then you can see the link.)
For years now, various states and the federal government have been trying to figure out and balance the taxes lost over the brick and mortar store sales that have moved to the internet. They have been talking about taxing the internet for years. Well, it’s finally taking place. At least in some states. I have uploaded a document that you can download and read on new laws taking place in various states, that started on July 1st, 2016, this year. I highly recommend you read it. It doesn’t really apply to most people unless you are either an affiliate, or if you have over $250,000 of sales in any one particular state. (for the most part) …but if you are involved in internet retail, you definitely need to read it. I do know that Amazon has “fired” affiliates that happen to reside in certain states. And I imagine that some states will be coming after some businesses next tax season, so you may want to get your “ducks in a row” so to speak. Download the whitepaper here: 2016 Fiscal New Year – July Sales Tax Changes
by E.I.T. Author | Aug 3, 2016 | Blog
So, I’m not sure how “I.T.” or “information technology” related this post is…but it’s information anyway. I have one non-technical blog subscription I get in my inbox, and it’s from TIGTA which stands for “TREASURY INSPECTOR GENERAL FOR TAX ADMINISTRATION”. In other words, they monitor the IRS’s actions. This email I got today is related to this article on the IRS …levying individual’s Social Security benefits, and I found it very informative…enough to share with whatever small portion of the public actually reads my posts anyway. If you want to download the entire report for your own benefit/resources, you can get it here: Report Reference Number: 2016-30-043 It is titled “Revenue Officer Levies of Social Security Benefits Indicate That Further Modification to Procedures Is Warranted”
The report found that “While most Internal Revenue Service (IRS) revenue officers follow the law when issuing levies on taxpayers, some took levy action on Social Security recipients that likely caused or exacerbated economic hardship”1
Apparently, “in 15 percent of the audit’s sample, TIGTA found that revenue officers took levy action on Social Security recipients that likely caused or exacerbated economic hardship. These levies may be due in part to a change in collection policies that appears to give equal weight to nonlegal considerations and the legal requirement to release the levy when the IRS determines that the levy is creating an economic hardship for the taxpayer.”1
“Additionally, while existing procedures allow revenue officers to manually levy up to 100 percent of Social Security benefits, taxpayers have the right to claim an exemption from the levy. However, in 28 percent of the sampled cases, revenue officers used the wrong form to levy Social Security benefits. As a result, the IRS did not consider exemption amounts before establishing the levy. Of these cases, 6 percent involved taxpayers who suffered greater Social Security levies than allowed by law.”1
- quoted text taken from an email received from TIGTA, and may likely also reflect text in the online report, although I haven’t read that one directly, and any apparent plagiarism is pure coincidence. However, if you believe you own this content, and want it removed, just contact me from the contact page, and I will remove the post.
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