With .ie domains you have virtually no cybersquatting, less cybercrime and minimal poaching of domains.  You get Higher Search Engine Rating with .ie domains and greater Security.

Registration is Simple. If the domain is for Business use, all you need to provide is an RBN/CRO or Registered VAT Number. If you dont have any of these, dont worry, you can provide a letter from your Bank Manager Solicitor or Accountant confirming you are a Sole Trader along with a document from yourself outlining your connection to the domain.

If the domain is for Personal use, all you need to do is send in a document outlining what the domain name means and what it will be used for along with a copy of your Passport or Driving Licence.

Following the IEDRs announcement of registering the 150,000^th .ie domain, they have launched why.ie, a site detailing further why to go .ie. Please visit https://www.why.ie/ for more information.

For detailed information/examples of the IEDR registration policy, please visit http://www.letshost.ie/domains/domain_irish_domain_names.php

1) The Basics
The greatest invitation you can give a hacker to compromise your blog is a failure to ensure that your WordPress installation is running the most current version. Older versions of WordPress suffer from numerous security vulnerabilities which the more current versions have patched. Upgrading WordPress is a simple process, log in to admin area and select ‘Updates’ from the Dashboard.
At the time of writing you should be running version 3.0.1
It is also important to keep all your plugins and themes up to date. The Updates area of the Dashboard will tell you if there is a newer version available. It is recommended that you regularly check this page to keep on top of the latest releases.
A strong password is a must. The use of special characters will make brute-forcing your password a much less appealing method of attack for a hacker. A simple password can be made quite strong by using numbers to replace letters as shown in the example below. Instead of ‘hosting123′, use ‘H0$t1ng123′

2) The less information you give a hacker the harder his job will be
A default WordPress installation will give away certain information that a hacker can use to formulate a plan of attack against your blog.
WordPress by default broadcasts what version it is running in your pages meta-tags. This information lets a hacker know what attacks your blog is vulnerable to.
The default username is admin. This can be used in conjunction with a brute-force attack that if successful will give a hacker full access to you blog and can do with it what ever they wish.
The default database prefix is wp_. This should be changed to something more unique.
While making the above changes may sound like a daunting task especially to users who may not consider themselves “technical”, there are many plugins that can be downloaded to do the job for you.

3) Security Plugins
WP Security Scan

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/wp-security-scan/
WP Security Scan will check you WordPress installation for the most common vulnerabilies and give suggestions as to how you can improve your security. It will ensure that your files are using the correct file permissions, remove the version of information from the Meta tags and test the strength of your password. It is recommended that you preform regular security scans of your Wordpress installation.

Login LockDown

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/login-lockdown/
This plug-in will record any failed login attempts. It records the IP address of the copmuter used along with a timestamp of every attempt. Too many failed attempts results in that particular IP address being blocked from connecting to your blog.

Stealth Login

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/stealth-login/
Change the default login page to one of your choice. The first place a a hacker will attempt to enter a password is the default http://www.exampleblog.com/wp-admin

- Information on the threat itself
- Info on how to clean your PC
- Info on how to clean your website

Information on the threat:

One aspect of gumblar’s existence is how it can use FTP details stored on your PC to upload malicious code to your web presence in order to spread itself further. Some FTP programs such as FileZilla apparently store passwords in plain text and as such can be exploited quite easily. The issue is not a server side issue.

Links with further information:

- http://searchsecurity.techtarget.com/news/article/0,289142,sid14_gci1357912,00.html

- http://www.webpayments.ie/blog/Gumblar-What-is-it-How-to-I-remove-it-.html

- http://www.zonealarm.com/security/en-us/support/gumblar.htm

Information on cleaning your PC:

- http://www.xp-vista.com/remove/gumblar

- http://www.malwarebytes.org/ (Referenced as being a good tool for identifying an infection)

Cleaning your website

1 – Change FTP password via Cpanel
2 – Do not store the FTP password in any profile etc
3 – Replace existing website with last known ‘good’ backup
4 – Change Cpanel / FTP password again via Cpanel

To avoid being re-infected we recommend running antivirus software such as AVG or Avast. We also recommend upgrading your browser to its most up to date version and running anti malware software such as that available from http://www.malwarebytes.org/. You may also want to ensure Google does not have your website listed here: http://stopbadware.org/home/reportsearch as a potential unsafe website. This can lead to issues with your search engine rankings.

Please note: External links are provided for your convenience and Letshost.ie cannot be responsible for the content / software etc on these sites.

The process actually involves transferring the domain away from Letshost for an increased fee and loosing use of the services we provide.

Please note Letshost does not issue renewal notices via post and only issues such renewal notices via email. All emails from Letshost relating to renewals will contain your unique client number.

All customer of Letshost are encouraged to ignore such postal items but if in doubt to contact us through support and confirm your suspicions on any mailings you receive.