educational

Hosting Talk: Site Security, Content Protection

Online adult business owners and webmasters face an array of challenges in the current market, everything from competition to piracy, but most recently the Web experienced a world-wide shock with the Heartbleed Bug. This serious OpenSSL vulnerability allowed hackers to steal protected information through a weakness in SSL/TLS encryption and exposed personal, financial and other important and private information. And it affected websites of all sizes and categories, everything from Yahoo to RollingStone.com, sending users around the globe scrambling to change their passwords. The list of affected sites is pages long, and websites including heartbleed.com have provided an easy search bar that allows users to type in any website to test for vulnerability.

The Heartbleed Bug has rocked the Internet, as OpenSSL is the backbone of an incredible number of programs and services that allow SSL or TLS based protocols, as well as almost 60 percent or more of websites that offer HTTPS connections. And in the adult industry, user data protection is key not only for credit card and payment processing but also for discretion and privacy of site members. And the Heartbleed flaw exposed both valuable members’ information, but also that of our very own networks – and if you haven’t already, adopting Fixed SSL and alerting users should be your No. 1 priority.

The bright side of this Heartbleed “disaster” is that we all have the opportunity up give our security strength a serious upgrade.

If your site(s) have been confirmed vulnerable, alert all members immediately. Possible exploitation or attacks are untraceable, which means there’s no way to know 100 percent if your users’ information was leaked. This means it’s up to you to patch this security threat, and until you do – and can confirm to your user base – there’s a serious risk of revenue loss. Trust is key, and without fast and straight-forward communication, trust will be lost.

Recommend that users check every website they commonly use (adult or otherwise) to test for Heartbleed vulnerability and edit their passwords as needed. There’s a chance that every user has been affected by Heartbleed either directly or indirectly. To test your site for the Heartbleed vulnerability, visit https://www.redapplemedia.com/go/heartbleed.

The bright side of this Heartbleed “disaster” is that we all have the opportunity up give our security strength a serious upgrade. Our personal data may have been exposed, but so has the infrastructure of these cyber criminals’ hacking methods. And fortunately there are tools that website owners can use to test their own systems for privacy weaknesses, including Heartbleed, as well as services that help beef up site-wide security.

The new SafeGuard feature by Codenomicon Defensics can detect and reveal all kinds of vulnerabilities and bugs, including Heartbleed, and is automated to make the process as fluid as possible. Be sure to replace any vulnerable SSL certificates and cryptographic protocols with those that have been patched to protect from these kinds of vulnerabilities. Considerations like keeping up to date on virus protection and definitions is crucial, as well: threats to your website are dynamic and ever-changing, so it’s absolutely critical that your protection is updated consistently and evolves to deal with threats that morph on a daily basis.

A good managed hosting package and a close relationship with your hosting provider also will go a long way toward optimizing your security. Many companies simply aren’t staffed with IT professionals who can handle the broad range of tasks and techniques that are required to provide solid security in-house, so it’s common sense to work with a host that has the expertise, man power, and service packages that include essentials like robust firewalls, software that detects and prevents unauthorized server access, traffic tracking to detect sudden bandwidth spikes, intrusion attempts, and other indicators of malicious use of your sites. Security can be a daunting subject for business owners, especially those who lack technical background of their own. But these security protection challenges can’t be ignored – they must be faced head on and handled in a proactive and timely fashion. Whether you address these needs with in-house hires or outsource them to capable third parties, the important thing is to act decisively and urgently to lock down your network and its content as effectively as possible. The alternative is to leave your online business at the mercy of a global network that’s teeming with pirates, hackers, scammers and thieves – none of whom have a particularly strong reputation of being merciful.

Steven Daris is CEO and co-founder of Red Apple Media (RedAppleMedia.com), a managed hosting, ecommerce and video streaming solutions provider.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

profile

WIA Profile: Reba Rocket

As chief operating officer and chief marketing officer of Takedown Piracy, long at the forefront of intellectual property protection in adult entertainment, Rocket is dedicated to safeguarding the livelihoods of content creators and producers while fostering a more ethical and sustainable industry.

Women In Adult ·
opinion

Protecting Content Ownership Rights When Using AI

In today’s digital age, content producers have more tools at their disposal than ever before. Among these tools, artificial intelligence (AI) content generation has emerged as a game changer, enabling creators to produce high-quality content quickly and efficiently.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
opinion

How Payment Orchestration Can Help Your Business

An emerging payment solution is making waves in the merchant world: the payment orchestration platform (POP). It’s quickly gaining traction as a powerful tool for managing online payments — but questions abound.

Cathy Beardsley ·
opinion

Fine-Tuning Refund and Cancellation Policies

For adult websites, managing refunds and cancellations isn’t just about customer service. It’s a crucial factor in maintaining compliance with the regulations of payment processors and payment networks such as Visa and Mastercard.

Jonathan Corona ·
profile

WIA Profile: Laurel Bencomo

Born in Cambridge, England but raised in Spain, Laurel Bencomo initially chose to study business at the University of Barcelona simply because it felt familiar — both of her parents are entrepreneurs. She went on to earn a master’s degree in sales and marketing management at the EADA Business School, while working in events for a group of restaurants in Barcelona.

Women In Adult ·
profile

Gregory Dorcel on Building Upon His Brand's Signature Legacy

“Whether reflected in the storyline or the cast or even the locations, the entertainment we deliver is based on fantasy,” he elaborates. “Our business is not, and never has been, reality. People who are buying our content aren’t expecting reality, or direct contact with stars like you can have with OnlyFans,” he says.

Jeff Dana ·
opinion

How to Turn Card Brand Compliance Into Effective Marketing

In the adult sector, compliance is often treated as a gauntlet of mandatory checkboxes. While it’s true that those boxes need to be ticked and regulations must be followed, sites that view compliance strictly as a chore risk missing out on a bigger opportunity.

Jonathan Corona ·
opinion

A Look at the Latest AI Tools for Online Safety

One of the defining challenges for adult businesses is helping to combat the proliferation of illegal or nonconsensual content, as well as preventing minors from accessing inappropriate or harmful material — all the more so because companies or sites unable or unwilling to do so may expose themselves to significant penalties and put their users at risk.

Gavin Worrall ·
opinion

Know When to Drop Domains You Don't Need

Do you own too many domains? If so, you’re not alone. Like other things we accumulate, every registered domain means something to us. Sometimes a domain represents a dream project we have always wanted to do but have never quite gotten around to.

Juicy Jay ·
opinion

Understanding 'Indemnification' in Business Contracts

Clients frequently tell me that they didn’t understand — or sometimes, even read — certain portions of a contract because those sections appeared to be just “standard legalese.” They are referring, of course, to the specialized language used in legal documents, including contracts.

Corey D. Silverstein ·
Show More