Continuous Integration (CI) is what Salesforce facilitates on its platform, which his meant to deploy loads of codes to many orgs simultaneously. Previously, these monster deployments caused a lot of traffic jam, and the deployments were not done properly or timely. Salesforce pitched in by identifying the need for an environment to do more work by introducing a set of tools to enable easier and timely CI.

The etymology of Salesforce DX is also quite interesting. Initially, it was called ‘Project Janus’. The primary logic behind the name ‘Project Janus’ was its functional resemblance with Roman God Janus, who is the god of transition. Salesforce DX was then called internally as App Cloud Developer Experience or ACDX. The App Hub was previously known as ‘Dev Lodge’ and ‘Dev Hub’ among others.

Later, this new packaging was started to be called as Salesforce Archives like the Java Archives (JARS). This further ended up in the possibility of it being called colloquially by the name SARs, which is the name of a deadly human virus, so the name ‘New Packaging’ and ‘Packaging 2’ were settled on.

Some essential Salesforce DX facts to note

# As Flosum.com points out; one can keep their old tools for the Salesforce DX too with a very few exceptions. All those tools which people are used to with Salesforce CI are available. The change sets and Sandboxes may still work in the new packaging also.

# Like many other solutions you know, Salesforce DX is never an ‘all or nothing’ type as you can even choose to use a single portion of your existing application with the latest Salesforce DX when the other portions of your app served by sandboxes or changesets.

# In fact, you have to set up an excellent project directory structure at the first point for Salesforce DX. There may be various sets of metadata which are logically connected inside a DX Projects, namely Apex Class DX Projects or Lightning DX Projects, on which you can have a customized control on who control the projects and whom all can make changes.

# You are not stuck with Salesforce DX, and you can go back at any point. If you find things are not working out as you wish on making revisions, then you can try deploying everything back into your Org and delete the repo to start it all over again. You can move back and start from scratch anytime you like to.

On Salesforce DX, you have a myriad of tools which you can integrate using the CLI. Along with it, there are also tools in the Salesforce partner ecosystem, which complements Salesforce DX like Auto Salesforce DX got unveiled in the Winter’2018, which offers a fresh and promising paradigm in Salesforce development. In this article, we are trying to discuss some of the This summary discusses some of the very interesting facts about Salesforce DX for developers and administrators.

History of Salesforce

Rabit. Along with these, Visual Studio Code too is another admirable tool to be used with Salesforce DX.

If you are like many business owners, website security is the thing that never crosses your mind. This is especially so if you are a small business owner who owns a small e-commerce website or runs a small blog as we tend to believe that we are not as much of a target for hackers as compared to the bigger players.

But you could not be more wrong; hackers crawl the entire web looking for vulnerable websites big and small. As stats show, nearly 50,000 websites are hacked every day. So it is vital to have a robust security system for any website. Website security is so important because your website is your storefront, your brand, and the first point of contact with your audience. If you do not secure your website you could irreparably damage critical business relations and destroy your blog.

Some of the dangers of having an insecure website include having hackers install malware that is spread to users, theft of transaction and credit card information, theft of client information such as email addresses and names, and crashing or taking over the site.

1. You Data Accessibility

Authorization features are the most common ways through which hackers breach your website’s security. You need to go with a host that has robust access and user permissions, file management, applications, and login systems.

• A good host is one that uses Secure Socket Shell for logins into the server or the website. The best hosts typically also have RSA keys hardened further with passphrases to prevent unauthorized access into the server or website. You should also find a host that makes it easy to whitelist good actors and blacklist potentially malicious actors.
• When it comes to file management you need a host that comes with robust and secure password permissions for file uploads, transfer, and maintenance. A reliable host will provide remote access to website server following SFTP and FTP best practice.
• The best host that cares about your business will have and enforce a policy of strong passwords for logging into the server and website. Another important aspect of access especially for a business website is the ability to have two-factor authentication. Two-factor authentication provides a two-layered security system, and you may have to provide not only passwords but also have to enter a code sent to your phone or email to log into the server or website.

2. Check the Backups Options

You could lose all your hard work in an instant if a hacker attack against your website is successful. To be safe from such an eventuality, you need a web host that provides an effective and reliable backup and restore options. Good hosts typically provide frequent, automatic, and redundant backups of all your website files.

Research shows that more than 65% of small businesses don’t have a disaster recovery plan which includes data loss. That is why it’s so important to always check the backup files that the host provides and ascertain that they are working as expected. It is no fun to have your website crash or being hacked and then discover that you do not have any working backup and restore files.

3. DDoS Protection

Denial of Service attack (DDoS) is the most prevalent source of financial loss to businesses online. A DDoS attack will disrupt your web applications, email, and your entire website by overloading critical resources such as the memory, CPU, and bandwidth of your server, making services unavailable for normal visitors. If you have a business online, whether it is a blog or an e-commerce site, you could face such an attack.

The best hosts will typically have excellent DDoS protection technologies to protect critical applications, email, and websites. Such technology needs to have the capability to automatically trigger as soon as it detects any hint of an attack. It should also have the capacity to filter and block fraudulent traffic while letting through all legitimate traffic.

Having a host that provides such protection will ensure that you do not have to deal with deteriorated service, loss of productivity, customer dissatisfaction, and lost revenues.

4. Software Updates

One of the best things a host can do for you is to protect you from software vulnerabilities from the software installed on your website and on its servers. If you are using a content management system such as WordPress, your most vulnerable software include, scripts, apps, plugins, and the content management system (CMS) itself.

Almost 56% of hacked WordPress blogs are using outdated CMS apps, according to Sucuri report. A good host will either provide a managed service that will update your software for you or will allow you to automatically configure your website to update to the latest versions of software that is less vulnerable to hackers.

On the other hand, a good host will typically have strong update and patch management processes for their servers that deal with any new vulnerabilities in new versions of the software. New updates of software typically have security holes that could present a way for hackers to get into the server and wreak havoc on your website. As such, the host needs to have reliable, repeatable, and consistent reporting frameworks that ensure all systems are working properly and are up to date.

5. Trustworthiness

The most reliable way to determine the trustworthiness of a web host is to read their reviews online. Nonetheless, a lot of reviews online are convoluted given that they are written by the hosts themselves, resellers, and affiliates.

There is another way to get legitimate reviews. The hidden gem of true feedbacks is web hosting forums. Since these are usually written by persons that have actually used the hosting services, they will be a true reflection of the service quality and trustworthiness.

Another way you can determine if a host is trustworthy is to plug their phone number into a  reverse phone lookup service. Tools like that will search for information on hosting provider by its phone number in their database and will tell you if your prospective host has been flagged as a scammer, or even if it has negative reviews.

Conclusion

Web security does not have to be a very complicated process. With a good web host, you will find that a lot of the processes will be hands off and automated most of the time. However, while there is no unified solution that will secure your blog or business website, choosing the most trustworthy host and using the right software that is regularly updated are two of the most critical things you can do.

Nonetheless, while your web host could provide much of the security we have outlined, you also need to be proactive and put in place measure to protect your website. Apart from the backups on the server host, ensure that your website files are automatically backed up in a cloud, on your computer, or other storage devices as regularly as possible.

When all is said and done, automation of your processes and following simple safety procedures and guidelines should keep your website online, secure, and safe from hackers.

Ever heard of a data breach? If not, you are at the risk of being the next victim in line. Case in point is when a shopper uses his or her ATM card for shopping at their favorite supermarket. Later on, he realizes that more money was withdrawn from his account than expected.

This not only hurts the particular grocery store but him as a consumer as well. To cut the chase, a data breach is when a cybercriminal infiltrates information systems to extract valuable data.

Data breaches not only cause the loss of much money but can also cause an irreparable damage to your reputation.

You want to know more about the ins and outs of data breaching to avoid falling victim to their malicious antics.

Why the high incidences in data breaching?

A large portion of our personal information is now on the internet. This only means one thing; An increase in digital data.

With the increase in digital data, criminals in the dark web are scouting for an opportunity to access and impersonate your personal information.

Today, virtually everything is done online. Gone are the days, when you could buy household items at the nearest local store. Thanks to the internet, e-commerce is a success the world over. You get to sample the best products and services in the market from the best of merchants while seated in your living room.

Also Read: WhatsApp’s New Security Measures: Are You Safe from Hackers?

Amazon now ships items to most parts of the world.

Because of data breaches, past studies have given an estimated figure of $3.86 million as the figure that gets lost by companies globally.

As a matter of fact, most business companies and corporations are the most targeted because of the large data they handle.

To your surprise, companies with big brands and reputations have fallen victim to these fraudsters. Companies such as Reddit, Timehop and Macy’s have suffered serious data security breaches in the past.

What is the cause of data breaches?

Given the substantial amounts of money cybercriminals make from data companies, data breaching is not an activity they would want to stop sooner.

What most hackers look for is information that can be personalized easily. This, they will do with the intention of stealing your money or selling your information to the dark web.

Also Read: How to Protect Your Vehicle From Hacking

There are numerous ways hackers could infiltrate companies and your personal information. Interestingly, these attacks are not only targeted to a particular entity but could happen randomly and accidentally.

If your computer has an out-of-date OS or browser, you risk being a victim of data infiltration. An attacker could simply use the security leaks in your browser to access important information found on your computer. Almost always, they will use malware to expose your data.

One other common tactic used by attackers is the use of phishing emails. Phishing emails lead users into revealing their personal credentials such as usernames and passwords. Attackers have a penchant for introducing malware into your computer using email attachments from unfamiliar sources.

You want to be cautious the next time you are opening email attachments.

Phishing is also used by hackers to direct users to insecure sites. These sites trick users into logging into them with their personal eventually falling victim to hackers.

Whether it is a password to your online account, credit card or email, you want to avoid the use of weak passwords. They put you at risk of a data breach as cybercriminals could easily guess and crack on them.

Avoid using passwords with only whole words or numerals. Most websites you register with will warn you against the use of a weak password. Don’t even think of using the same password twice as the same password could easily be trace by attackers over several sites.

Watch the web pages you visit to download stuff from the internet. Some of these web pages are compromised. Such vulnerabilities put you at a risk of downloading malware unknowingly from the internet. Once in your computer, this malware will take advantage of security leaks in your OS or browser.

Also Read: 3 Top Tips to Stop Online Hackers

How to protect yourself against data breaches

Falling victim to a breach of your data is disgusting, to say the least. For example, if funds from your bank account get to be stolen as a result, the organization or company in charge of your data should be held liable.

Companies have a responsibility of protecting the data of their users against hackers. One way to do this would be to cushion their customers from harm by use of credit monitoring service.

In the event your data or funds are stolen, use the company responsible for your data as your first defense.

On the contrary, you are better of preventing yourself from the infiltration of your data by

• Accessing secure websites only

Secure websites have their URLs starting with https. If not on a secure website, you want to keep safe by using a strong VPN service. Best VPN services come with various security protocols. Find out which protocol suits you best.

• Track your bank and financial accounts

Given the inherent risk, your bank accounts face from data breaches, make sure to regularly track your accounts for any suspicious activity. Some banks come with insecurity alert features. You want to use them to get SMS or email alerts in case of a security breach.

• Use strong passwords

Easy passwords online are a no-brainer for hackers. The sooner you start using complex passwords the better your security will be online. You could download free password managers to help you in this quest.

• Avoid the temptation to overshare on social media

Make it a rule of thumb: sensitive information should never be shared on social media. For example, oversharing your home location and places you frequently visit is never wise. It could put you at risk of an attack by criminals in the know about your whereabouts.

Also Read: Hackers Targeting Healthcare Data in Droves: What You Need to Know

The bottom line

The importance of protecting your data can never be understated. With the growing presence of digital data, cybercriminals are also becoming more ingenious by the day. A Data breach is a real threat not only to businesses but individuals as well.  While online or when doing a financial transaction, keeping safe is not an option but a necessity.