Thursday, 30 October 2014

Attackers Targeting silverlight Plug-ins

Silverlight Web development, Microsoft Silverlight development, Silverlight Web developersSilverlight Vulnerabilities are extremely being misused for drive-by download violence in order to affect computer systems through malware, particularly with the help of malicious advertisements. Attackers have already been including exploits for the Silverlight vulnerabilities for their exploit kits, tools which are very popularly used to produce web based attacks, as stated by the security investigators at Cisco Systems. Silverlight exploits are considered the drive-by preference of the month, the security researchers at Cisco posted a blog recently. Due to the fact on 23rd April, they have noticed significant traffic usually through malvertising, getting pushed to the Angler situations to a certain extent making use of Silverlight exploits.

Angler certainly is the 2nd exploit kit to feature Silverlight exploits following a tool that is similar and is known as Fiesta incorporated exploits for 2 Silverlight vulnerabilities in the month of January. Most of the time whenever a user gets redirected with an attack web page, then such exploit kit carries out a test to discover the users' internet browser and then install plug-ins, Java, Flash Player, Silverlight, Adobe Reader and so on. In case any one of these are out dated and also vulnerable, the exploit kit provides the related exploit from the available arsenal. Over the past many years, Java has repeatedly become the most often targeted browser plugin mainly because Java exploits turned out to become especially effective on the massive users list along with out-dated installations, specifically in enterprise surroundings. Then again, that has just starting to change. In this specific Angler movement, the attack is specially targeted in Flash & Silverlight vulnerabilities despite the fact that Java is present as well as an added resource within the initial attack landing web pages, it's rarely triggered, as stated by the Cisco researchers.

The Angler attempts have been discovered lately from the Cisco have been introduced by malicious ads, an activity generally known as malvertising. Particularly, users paid a visit to genuine websites which unintentionally provided scam advertisements through the hacked advertisement network. The advertisements after that redirected users' web browsers to the compromised website which then redirected those to one Angler landing page. The Angler attack page installed a Silverlight exploit which chained 2 vulnerabilities with each other, CVE-2013-3896, fixed through Microsoft in the month of October the year 2013, along with CVE-2013-0074, was spotted in the month of March in the year 2013. Once the exploits ended up being successful, a computer system Trojan which links back into an isolated server in Brazil have been installed, the researchers at Cisco stated.

We need to be expecting these types of current Silverlight exploits in order to proliferate in different exploit pack groups a few years down the line since risk characters copy code through one another then launch updates, the researchers stated. Silverlight exploits have also been best suited simply because Silverlight keeps on gaining rich Internet app share of the market, most likely surpassing Java, additionally Microsoft's life cycle routine recommends Silverlight 5 would be supported by the month of October, 2021. The Silverlight exploit made use of in the Angler attack strategy been able to affect around 10% of the users who actually have arrived at the landing page, a decent rate of success for the exploit kits, according to research by the Cisco investigators. Users who may have Silverlight in their computer systems need to make sure they begin to set up currently available update to the program. This would help you leverage the benefits of Silverlight Web development.

We provide Microsoft Silverlight development services. If you would like to discuss with certified Silverlight web developers from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Wednesday, 22 October 2014

Is ASP.Net Shopping Cart a Good Option for e-Commerce Sites?

asp.net application development, .net web development, expert .net developersBoth new and existing businesses, nowadays, prefer selling their products and services online. But each business has to consider several factors while creating a web store. Along with deciding the process to fulfill the orders and a payment gateway, the business must choose the right shopping cart solution. While comparing the shopping cart solution, it is important to focus on some key features, along with the user experience. A constant increase is also noted in the number of ecommerce platforms using shopping cart solutions based on ASP.Net. It is also a good idea to understand some of the major benefits of using an ASP.Net shopping cart.

Understanding Major Benefits of ASP.Net Shopping Cart Software

Easy to Use: You have option to choose from several shopping cart solutions written in ASP.Net. Most shopping carts are designed with simple and easy-to-use features. Further, these software applications can be integrated smoothly with ecommerce applications. So you can easily pick the right solution that will make your web store popular by delivering the ultimate shopping experience.

Flexible Product Management: You must choose a shopping cart solution that allows customers to add, edit and delete items in a quick and flexible way. Many web store owners rely on ASP.Net shopping cart solutions to enable customers to add, edit and delete items at their own pace before moving to the billing process. These solutions are designed with robust features to make product management quick and convenient.

Currency Converter: The ecommerce application will enable you to offer your products to customers residing in different regions. So the customers will want to know the prices of the products in their local currencies. The ASP.Net shopping cart solutions are designed with currency converters. So the customer can easily check the total amount due in local currency. The feature will encourage customers to visit your web store at regular intervals.

Integrated with Multiple Payment Gateway Systems: To deliver the ultimate shopping experience, you must allow customers to pay for the items in a number of ways. For instance, the customers must have option to pay through their credit cards, online bank accounts, Google Pay or PayPal. The ASP.Net shopping cart solutions work smoothly with several payment gateway systems. So the software will allow your customers to pay for the products without any inconvenience.

Safe Shopping Experience: The constant increase in online frauds is having a huge impact on the popularity of ecommerce. While buying products from a new web store, often customers hesitate to share sensitive information like credit card details. But the shopping cart solutions written in ASP.Net can avail the security features of .Net platform. The solution can further provide user authentication and password protection. So the ASP.Net shopping cart will contribute towards increasing your ecommerce site’s reputation and credibility.

Easy to Manage and Customize the Sites: Unlike conventional websites, an ecommerce site has to be updated and customized at frequent intervals. In addition to adding new products and modifying existing products, the seller also has to offer discounts and deals. The ASP.Net shopping cart makes it easier for you to update and customize the ecommerce site. It includes a strong administration panel to facilitate site management without affecting the shopping experience of users.

Option to Save Customer Data: There are several customers who leave the web store after checking the available products. Normally, these people add items to the shopping cart, but leave before moving to the billing process. The ASP.Net shopping carts are designed with features to track customer data, and save the information to a database. So it becomes easier for you to seduce such customers by offering attractive discounts and offers.

You also have option to choose from a wide range of ASP.Net shopping cart solutions for your ecommerce site. Some of these ASP.Net shopping carts are open source and free, whereas others are commercial. Also, you can consider creating a custom-made shopping cart for your ecommerce application using ASP.Net. This would help you leverage the benefits of asp.net application development.

We provide .net web development services. If you would like to talk to one of our expert .net developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.

Tuesday, 21 October 2014

Where is web development moving to in future?

software development company India, Offshore web development, hire offshore developersIn the last 20 years the web world had evolved through desktop browsers and a particular paradigm – the webpage. However, in the last two to three years both these sources have become obsolete as new devices captured the technology market. Internet is changing drastically. This makes it difficult for the web development companies to keep pace with the latest developments in the web industry. As technology advances, more numbers of companies are opting for an online presence. Instead of a static website, they are choosing more dynamic as well as interactive websites for their businesses. With the rise of blogs, content management and the ever growing social networking, the internet is no more a mere platform to share information. It has grown into a resource which the companies can use to communicate and share information with their target audience. This helps them to build a strong online presence.

The fact that web development will still play a vital role in the near future is for certain. But the question is in what form. New technological platforms are opening up varied scopes to create innovative solutions that are more effective and usable. Let’s take a look at some of the factors that will play a major role in deciding the future trends for web development:

Boom in the Mobile Market

The mobile market is on a rise currently. It had a strong impact on the online users. Soon a time will come when it would be archaic to differentiate between desktops and cellphones. There are several supporting factors that have aided in popularizing this trend – better connectivity speed, affordable prices and device capabilities. With the mobile as new effective device, the Internet will be in the user’s palm. Leading companies have taken note of this change and are adapting to it accordingly. For instance, Google has introduced the push into machine learning and UX. This displays the potential of a mobile future in the form of Google Now.

Responsive Web Design – The New Future

This is another trend which the web development industry cannot simply overlook. When its future is so integrally related to the handheld devices, one needs a method that would make browsing the web on the mobile smooth. With these innovations, the website designs have to keep up with changing screen sizes. In this regard, the Responsive web design has evolved as a firewall. One of the key components to ensure success for online businesses is impressive user experience. In order to ensure this, it is important that the browsers do not get frustrated while navigating a particular site. In addition to this, speed is the magic word for mobile users. A desktop website cannot load speedily on a handheld device. Thus, to take care of such issues the Responsive design is presently the best solution.

Appification is the new mantra

Rise of responsive design, explosion of mobiles and enhanced opportunities for users are gradually moving towards appification. In fact, it is spelt that in the near future there would be an appification of everything. But presently, the world is only concerned with the appification of the online world. The term refers to the need to mobile designs that would be unique for smaller screens and the user’s interface with the context. A website can only deliver optimum performance when it can be used across various screen sizes. What appification does is that it maintains a balance for the user experiences for both mobile and desktop versions.

Visceral Design on the rise

Web development will have to rely heavily on visceral designs. Communication is important and this can be done best through telling stories. Websites are no longer a collection of loosely woven pages. Linear structures are required in web development. The HTML is a preferred component now.

PHP is gaining ground fast

This framework is fast becoming popular as the development industry considers PHP as a robust, reliable and secure language. It is also able to cater to the needs of the websites that are both large and small. They also meet the requirements of the enterprise websites.

The growth potentials for the web development industry are huge. Traditional methods in this industry are fast being replaced. Additional services, like, e-commerce, RSS, e-marketing, SEO, blogs, online payment options, etc are in high demand. Thus, the web development services will have to offer dynamic websites along with applications that will help further in simplifying the online businesses. To get maximum benefits of Web development, you may consider hiring services of a certified software development company India.

We provide offshore web development services. If you would like to hire offshore developers from us, we would be glad to assist you at Mindfire Solutions.

Friday, 17 October 2014

Why WordPress over Drupal is selected for Developing Websites?

Wordpress Development India, Wordpress application development, expert WordPress developersWordPress is a content management system (CMS) and a blogging tools, whereas Drupal is a content management framework. Both WordPress and Drupal are written in PHP, while being free and open source. But many reports have highlighted that organizations prefer WordPress over Drupal for developing websites. WordPress is hugely popular among users due to its template system, plug-in architecture, and easy to setup features. There are also certain reasons why WordPress beat Drupal when it comes to website development.

7 Reasons Why Organizations Prefer WordPress to Drupal

1) WYSIWYG Content Editor

Unlike Drupal, WordPress comes with a What You See Is What You Get (WHYSWYG) content editor. The editor enables users to create and modify code without being familiar in HTML and CSS. But Drupal requires the site implementer to choose from several suboptimal editor module choices. So it takes time to create content using CMS. So many users switch to the open source blogging tool to simplify content creation and update.

2) Easy to Setup

As a browser-based program, WordPress enables users to customize and manage their websites from any computer. They can simply access some tools to manage their website without understanding FTP and HTML coding. But Drupal requires additional knowledge and skills to setup and manage website. It allows the websites to be managed only by experienced developers and designers.

3) Maintain Backward Compatibility

Drupal is updated without any backward compatibility. So organizations have to rewrite their website code to make it compatible with the latest version of Drupal. On the other hand, WordPress is updated by maintaining backward compatibility. The users can easily upgrade their websites to avail the features and advantages of the most recent version of WordPress.

4) Better Source Code Management

Drupal combines the source code of a website along with user content. So the source code can be managed effectively only by an experienced web developer. But WordPress helps users in keeping the website source code separate from the user content. The separation makes it easier for normal users to manage and update the source code of their websites.

5) Easier to Debug Code

Unlike Drupal, WordPress does not have a highly nested architecture. So it does not require users to put any extra time and effort to identify the code that require modification. WordPress allows user to set a breakpoint on the template file of the theme, and debug the code from the breakpoint. The feature enables users to add new features and functionality to their website at regular intervals.

6) Faster Loading

The loading time of a website will have a direct impact on user experience. So organizations explore ways to keep the website visitors engaged by reducing the website’s loading time. To load a page, Drupal has to run about 100 SQL queries. But WordPress can load a page by simply running less than 10 SQL queries. Thus, WordPress sites are normally loaded at a much faster speed.

7) Search Engine Friendly

While ranking a website, Google consider its performance. So the quick loading time of a website contributes towards increasing its ranking on search engine result pages (SERPs). Also, WordPress provides several search engine optimization (SEO) tools. The users can use these tools to easily get more website visitors by ranking their websites high on SERPs. The SEO benefits also make many organizations prefer WordPress over Drupal while developing websites.

Despite the huge popularity of WordPress, a user must not forget the advantages of Drupal. Drupal allows users to create custom templates and content types, while facilitating administration and scalability. It is always important for the users to compare the pros and cons of both WordPress and Drupal before choosing the right option. To get maximum benefits of Wordpress, you may consider hiring services of a certified Wordpress development India company.

We provide Wordpress application development services. If you would like to discuss with a expert WordPress developers from our team, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.