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December 7, 2018 – WordPress has released a major new update (version 5.0) and it is rolling out throughout the world.  As it turns out, we are finding that some sites may not be compatible with the new update and this is causing some site owners to see the “white screen of death” when accessing their web page.  This white page indicates a fatal error on the site and steps will need to be taken to modify the site so that it will again be functional.

Although we do monitor server functionality, we are unable to check each website and each page on the sites to verify they still function when an update like this occurs.  This is very similar to the issue we are currently working where the server operating systems themselves must be upgraded – also resulting in some older, unmaintained sites producing issues.   Our staff is going through sites today to try to locate any which are not functioning normally, but as a site owner, if you see issues, please contact us at support@internetpro.net to report it.   We will do our best to get your site online, although it may be possible that your website developer may need to be enlisted to restore full functionality.

One of the main highlights of this new WordPress release is a new editor which completely changes the page editing experience.  A WordPress-produced plugin is available called “Classic Editor” which will restore the old look/feel to your editor. However, this plugin is only going to be maintained until 2021, so it will be necessary to migrate to the new editor eventually.

October 15, 2018 – 6:20am – One of our virtual machine hosts had a hardware problem this morning. It caused some of the virtual machines it was hosting to be slow to unresponsive for a brief time.  Our proactive monitoring system alerted us to the issue and we are currently troubleshooting the problem.  We will have to perform some emergency maintenance during the day today, but will migrate affected virtual machines to other hosts while this is done.   Performance may be slightly degraded during this time but most likely won’t be noticeable.   We will be posting updates here.

Update 6:55am – All machines are responding normally at this time.

Update 5:10pm – We are going to be rebooting some virtual machines to bring them up on temporary hardware. Normally, we can migrate them without a shutdown, but we are taking this opportunity to also upgrade the infrastructure, so a reboot is required. Most affected VMs will be down less than 1 minute.

October 16 10:45am – We are still running some VMs on a backup server and there was a hiccup with that server this morning.  Some servers were interrupted for approximately 10 minutes.  We are waiting on a hardware part to come in for the primary server that is not fully functional.

October 25, 5:10pm – We ran in to some issues with our backup server this morning so we’re going to perform some emergency maintenance this evening to move everything over to the primary server.  The part has arrived and the OS has been updated to the latest release.   There will be a short interruption on some machines as we perform a quick reboot.

Update 6:25pm – The work is complete and all is well with the world again (well, our little world).   This should close out this issue.

If you have any questions about this issue, please contact us at support@internetpro.net.

October 4, 2018 3:00pm – We just got word that a bad signature update for our email virus scanner was causing all Excel spreadsheets being sent as attachments to be blocked as viruses.  This update was sent out today and we are not sure of the exact time the issues started but it seems to have been around noon.    We have applied a fix to the signature and Excel files should go through fine now.   We apologize for the inconvenience.

June 29, 2018  – At approximately 11:30am CDT, Comcast started experiencing a nationwide issue.  From what we can tell, it is mostly a routing problem and does not affect all customers or all internet sites.  However, locally, customers of ClearVoice VOIP phone service are experiencing issues when their ISP is Comcast.  There are also numerous reports of websites which are unavailable including Alarm.com.   This issue is unrelated to the bad weather experienced by our area yesterday.   Comcast tech support is unavailable at this time due to high call volume, but we will post updates as soon as we find out more.

Update: 1:54pm – News outlets are starting to pick up this story. Apparently, the issue is not internal to Comcast’s network, but is actually a fiber cut to one of their large peers.  Here are some related articles:
CNBC
CNET
Newsweek

As of right now, there is still no estimated time to repair.

Update 5:00pm – As of now, there is no real news from Comcast.  Right now, it is just a “wait and see” situation.

Update 7:30am 6/30/18 – The outage has been resolved.  It actually got resolved around the time of the last update, but Comcast did not make an announcement.  It has been announced that the fiber cuts causing the problems were in the CenturyLink network and the Zayo network.

June 7, 2018 – We’ve received a few reports of customers getting scam emails which are attempting to capture usernames and passwords.   The email looks similar to this:

–BEGIN

To All,

Due to routine maintenance and enhancements, the following programs or systems access will not be available for use.
Network Systems
•           Access from district desktop computers (i.e. district drives-V:, W:, U:, T:, etc.)
•           VPN Access from outside the district
•           Wireless Network or Internet Access from laptops or tablets
•           E-mail-via Outlook, Outlook Web, and Smartphones
•           Adobe Connect
•           Enrich
•           Online employment application system
•           Nutrition Services MCS and PCS
•           Oracle
Please Maintain Here<phishing link/> access  systems programs.
Follow the procedure and complete information by clicking MAINTAIN HERE<phishing link/> .A new space will be created within 24 hours which will give you access to the above.
If maintenance is not done within the next 24hour(s) Your next log-in Access will be temporarily declined.
Thank you
IT Maintenance Services.

–END

The email is linked to a page which is not fully in English and does not look very convincing, but we still wanted customers to be aware of this and to know that it is a scam.

If there are any questions about this, please email us at support@internetpro.net or call 256-547-6817.

We’ve had a few customers call to ask us about the news stories being published reporting that the FBI is urging users to reboot their routers.   We wanted to post some information about that to help address any questions.   Here is a link to one such story for more information:  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/fbi-urges-internet-users-to-reboot-home-routers/

Another story:  https://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-fbi-says-you-should-reboot-your-router-should-you/

First, it is important to understand the difference between “reboot” and “reset” (a distinction the FBI apparently does not understand).   A “reboot” is harmless and will clear out any malware which is resident in memory (running at the time).  However, if the malware is loaded onto the router so that it will be reloaded, a reboot does no good.  A “reset” puts the piece of hardware back like it was from the factory and should eliminate any loaded malware.   HOWEVER, if the router has been programmed with settings changes such as custom WiFi settings, non-default IP address settings, password changes, or other changes made during installation, those settings will be LOST during a “reset”.   If your equipment was professionally installed, there is a good chance that resetting your router will cause problems on your network so we suggest contacting the installer BEFORE performing a “reset”.

The malware — called VPNFilter — targets Linksys, MikroTik, NETGEAR and TP-Link networking equipment, as well as QNAP network-attached storage (NAS) devices, according to researchers at Cisco.

If you purchase(d) your equipment from Network Solutions, Inc., we have only sold QNAP equipment which is affected.  QNAP has released a statement about the security vulnerability which allows VPNFilter to be installed.  Basically, if your QNAP has been upgraded since mid-2017, it is no longer vulnerable to attack.  QNAP also has a  free Malware app which periodically scans the device for malware and is capable of detecting and removing VPNFilter.  If Network Solutions, Inc. does maintenance on your network with the QNAP and has performed maintenance since mid-2017, your QNAP is most likely already patched and cleaned.  However, if you do have a QNAP which is open to the internet (accessible from outside your network) and we have not performed any maintenance recently, we do urge you to contact us so that we can update your system and check it for malware.

Update – June 6, 2018 – This issue has been found to be much worse than previously thought.  The list of manufacturers affected by the malware has been expanded to include routers made by ASUS, D-Link, Huawei, Ubiquiti, UPVEL, and ZTE.   Network Solutions, Inc. has definitely sold routers from these manufacturers – mostly Asus and Ubiquiti.  Although the Ubiquiti units we have sold are not listed as affected by this malware, we *have* sold Asus units which are affected – RT-N66U and RT-AC66U.   Here is a link to a story about the new developments: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/vpnfilter-can-also-infect-asus-d-link-huawei-ubiquiti-upvel-and-zte-devices/

Removing VPNFilter from infected devices is quite a challenge, as this malware is one of two malware strains that can achieve boot persistence on SOHO routers and IoT devices. Furthermore, there are no visible signs that a router has been infected with this malware, so unless you can scan your router’s firmware, even knowing you’re infected is a challenge. The best advice we can give right now is to make sure you’re running a router with up-to-date firmware.  Please contact Network Solutions, Inc. if you would like us to upgrade your router firmware.  Please note that resetting your router yourself may make your network inoperable.

If you have any questions or would like to schedule a call to evaluate or update your equipment, please contact us at 256-547-6817 or email support@internetpro.net.