Today, we sit behind the primary online offerings of some of the largest UK and international brands in the retail and pharmaceutical sector, amongst others, providing a full online service from inception to implementation, management, support and marketing.

We don’t actively market ourselves. We rely purely on word of mouth. We pride ourselves on the loyalty and commitment to our clients, and as a result, have excellent client retention. When it comes to our clients’ needs, nothing is too much trouble. As a result, some of customers have been with us for over 20 years – which we see as one of the best indicators of our high standards of service.

Give us a call for a quick no obligation chat to see how we could work with you. We’re easy to talk to, communicate at all levels of technical and marketing knowledge, and with no techno-babble.

In today's digital-first world, a reliable online presence isn't a luxury – it's a necessity. From ambitious startups to established enterprises, every business needs a robust and secure foundation for their website. At Industrial Pixel, we understand this critical need, and that's why we offer comprehensive web hosting services designed to cater to businesses of all sizes, ensuring your online operations run smoothly and efficiently.

Tailored Solutions for Every Stage of Growth

We believe that web hosting shouldn't be a one-size-fits-all solution. That's why our services are built with flexibility and scalability in mind:

• For Startups and Small Businesses: Just launching your first website? Our affordable and user-friendly hosting packages provide everything you need to get online quickly. With intuitive control panels, one-click installations for popular applications, and reliable performance, you can focus on building your business without worrying about the technical complexities of hosting.
• For Growing SMEs: As your business expands, so too will your website's traffic and resource demands. Our scalable hosting plans allow you to seamlessly upgrade your resources as needed, ensuring your website remains fast and responsive even during peak periods. We offer enhanced security features and dedicated support to help you manage your evolving online presence.
• For Large Enterprises: For businesses with high-traffic websites, complex applications, and stringent security requirements, we provide powerful and customizable hosting solutions. Our enterprise-grade hosting offers dedicated servers, advanced security protocols, robust performance, and expert technical support to meet the most demanding needs. We understand the importance of uptime and data integrity for large-scale operations.

Why Choose Industrial Pixel for Your Web Hosting Needs?

• Reliability & Uptime: We guarantee high uptime percentages, ensuring your website is always accessible to your customers.
• Security: Your data's security is paramount. We implement advanced security measures, including firewalls, DDoS protection, and regular backups, to safeguard your information.
• Performance: Our infrastructure is optimized for speed, providing a seamless user experience for your website visitors.
• Scalability: Grow your business without limits. Our hosting solutions are designed to scale with your needs.
• Expert Support: Our dedicated team of hosting specialists is available 24/7 to provide prompt and knowledgeable support whenever you need it.
• Competitive Pricing: We offer a range of cost-effective plans without compromising on quality or features.

At Industrial Pixel, we're more than just a hosting provider; we're your partner in online success. Let us handle the complexities of web hosting so you can focus on what you do best – running your business.

Ready to find the perfect hosting solution for your business? Contact us today for a personalized consultation.

All of our clients fortunately did adapt well, and those few new clients that said they were struggling, we helped to get back on their feet. We saw a large influx of online development, design and hosting requirements coming in as the year progressed from both UK and international clients, as well as new start ups. The medium and small businesses in particulary drove most of the growth, and as a consequence, we fine tuned our packages in terms of development/hosting and support to suit their requirements.

We see 2021 as an exciting year, and hope we all finally kick Covid well and truly into touch.

All the very best from all @ Industrial Pixel

iOS users in the UK, US and Australia can now ask Siri “Hey Siri, what's the news”. The news will then be played via podcasts from a local new service – defaulting to the Washington Post in the US, BBC in the UK and ABC in Australia, though these can be changed.

Whilst the feature works better on the iPhone, our initial tests found it to be a little buggy on iPads in these early stages.

It does demonstrate however, that Apple are still developing Siri, perhaps in contrast to Microsoft Cortana, but there is still some way to go to catch up with the competition.

The implant, named Skygofree includes functionality never seen in the wild before, such as location-based audio recording through infected devices. The spyware is spread through web pages mimicking leading mobile network operators.

Ones of its techniques, to silently infiltrate Android phones and siphon off WhatsApp messages, put it in the realms of one of the most advanced forms of malware targeting Google's operating system ever seen.

Kaspersky’s telemetry suggests that the spyware has been active since 2015, the version they analysed was re-written in 2017, and the infected individuals currently seem isolated to Italy.

The code and functionality, they say, have changed numerous times; from simple unobfuscated malware at the beginning to sophisticated multi-stage spyware that gives attackers full remote control of the infected device.

The implant provides the ability to grab large amounts of data, like call records, text messages, location, audio, calendar events, and other information stored on the device and could force a device to connect to Wi-Fi networks controlled by the malware creator(s).

'Skygofree' is so named because the word was used in one of the domains connected to the malware. The malware has no connection to Sky, Sky Go or any other subsidiary of Sky, and does not affect the Sky Go service or app.

More details released by Kaspersky available at https://securelist.com/skygofree-following-in-the-footsteps-of-hackingteam/83603/

Industrial Pixel provide programming services, technical support and hosting to businesses in all sectors. Contact us for more information.

The macOS patche is available for macs running macOS High Sierra 10.13.2. The iOS patch is for iPhone 5s and later, iPad Air and later, and iPod touch 6th generation. Apple has not commented on whether it will release similar patches for older devices.

To update your iOS device Go to Settings–>General–>Software Update, and your phone/iPad should see the update and give you an option to download. For macOS, open the App Store and go to 'updates'.

The details of the patches are here:

https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201222

Industrial Pixel provide programming services, technical support and hosting to businesses in all sectors. Contact us for more information.

These bugs exploit critical vulnerabilities in modern processors and potentially allow programs to steal data which is currently processed on the computer. While programs are typically not permitted to read data from other programs, a malicious program can exploit Meltdown and Spectre to get hold of secrets stored in the memory of other running programs. This might include your passwords stored in a password manager or browser, your personal photos, emails, instant messages and even business-critical documents.

Systems at risk include personal computers, mobile devices, and devices hosted in the cloud.

Meltdown

Meltdown breaks through, or ‘melts’  the basic isolation between user applications and the operating system. This attack allows a program to access the previously assumed isolated memory, and thus also the secrets, of other programs and the operating system.

If your computer has a vulnerable processor and runs an unpatched operating system, it is not safe to work with sensitive information without the chance of leaking the information. There are already some software patches against Meltdown, with more due.

Meltdown was discovered and reported by teams from Google, Cyberus Technology and the Graz University of Technology.

Spectre

Spectre breaks through the isolation between different applications. It potentially allows an attacker to trick programs into leaking their secrets.

Spectre is harder to exploit than Meltdown, but it is also harder to mitigate.

Spectre was discovered and reported by Google and Paul Kocher.

Q & A

Can my antivirus detect or block this attack?

We always recommend keeping an up to date anti-virus solution on both your servers and personal computers, and that advice does not change. However, unlike usual malware, Meltdown and Spectre are hard to distinguish from regular benign applications, so it may not be possible for anti-virus solutions to fully protect from these particular exploits. However, your antivirus may detect malware which uses the attacks by comparing binaries after they become known.

Am I affected by the bugs?

As it affects most devices with modern processors, more than likely, yes. In the coming weeks, manufacturers are likely to release tools to check if your device is affected.

With Meltdown, every Intel processor which implements out-of-order execution is potentially affected, which is effectively every processor since 1995 (except Intel Itanium and Intel Atom before 2013). Researchers successfully tested Meltdown on Intel processor generations released as early as 2011. Currently, they have only verified Meltdown on Intel processors and it is unclear whether ARM and AMD processors are also affected by Meltdown

With Spectre, almost every system is affected: Desktops, Laptops, Cloud Servers, as well as Smartphones. More specifically, all modern processors capable of keeping many instructions in flight are potentially vulnerable. Researchers have verified Spectre on Intel, AMD, and ARM processors.

If you have a support contract with us, we are already working with your cloud providers to help mitigate any issues. If you don't, contact us for assistance.

Is there a workaround/fix?

Patches are gradually becoming available for browsers, operating systems and hardware microcode to help mitigate the bugs. If you are using Windows, keep checking Windows Update. If you are using a Mac, check the App Store for updates. If you have a cloud server without a support contract, contact us for assistance.

If you are using a third party anti-virus solution, make sure they are compatible with any updates, or it may block your update from being downloaded (see the anti-virus vendors website for more information).

This is a big task for the manufacturers to correct so may take some time. There is likely to be some hit on performance of the devices when patches are applied, though it is not clear at this stage how big that hit may be.

Why is it called Meltdown?

The bug basically ‘melts’ security boundaries which are normally enforced by the hardware.

Why is it called Spectre?

The name is based on the root cause, ‘speculative execution’.

What are CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5715?

CVE-2017-5753 and CVE-2017-5715 are the official references to Spectre. CVE is the Standard for Information Security Vulnerability Names maintained by MITRE.

What is the CVE-2017-5754?

CVE-2017-5754 is the official reference to Meltdown. CVE is the Standard for Information Security Vulnerability Names maintained by MITRE.

Is there more technical information about Meltdown and Spectre?

There is a blog entry from Google Ground Zero  and information on the dedicated websites at meltdownattack.com and spectreattack.com.

Where can I get help

If you need help, advice or assistance, you can contact us.

According to the International Telecommunications Union, as of the end of 2014, more than half the world’s population lacks internet access. OneWeb's new satellite constellation could dramatically improve that figure, bringing fresh opportunities to the billions of people who are currently held back by a lack of technology.

"People who don’t currently have access to proper teaching will be able to receive educations. People who want to create jobs will be able to develop new businesses connecting with the rest of the world. The opportunities are endless." says Branson.

LauncherOne in its most typical configuration will be capable of delivering as much as 225 kilograms (500 pounds) to a low inclination Low Earth Orbit or 120 kilograms (265 pounds) to a high-altitude Sun-Synchronous Orbit, for a price of less than $10M.

This is important news for the future of the Virgin's space programme, after a recent fatal crash that destroyed a suborbital rocket plane had raised questions about the future of Virgin Galactic.

The Virgin Group and Qualcomm Incorporated are the principle investors in OneWeb Ltd.

It is being reported that Microsoft is developing an entirely new browser alongside its new Windows 10 operating system. Sources suggest this is a new lightweight approach to browser development, and may replace the current Internet Explorer technology altogether.

In recent years Microsoft has faced increasing challenges from the popularly of Firefox and Safari browsers on particularly mobile platforms, and recent moves by Microsoft suggest they are now setting their operating system development focus on the highly competitive mobile sector.  

By the early '90s Cerf and Kahn's protocol emerged as the undisputed standard for internetting, or connecting computer networks to each other: what we now refer to as "The Internet".

See more at: http://www.tcpip40.com/

Bitly says “We have no indication at this time that any accounts have been accessed without permission... For our users' protection, we have taken proactive steps to ensure the security of all accounts, including disconnecting all users' Facebook and Twitter accounts.”.

They have also recommend that users take the following actions as soon as possible:

- Reset their Bitly password;

- Disconnect and reconnect any Twitter or Facebook accounts from the Bitly settings area, including any connected third party applications;

- Reset their Bitly API key from within the advanced settings area. If you are a developer using your API key, copy the new API key and change it in all applications. These can include social publishers, share buttons and mobile apps.

Bitly's chief executive Mark Josephson wrote: "The team has been working hard to ensure all accounts are secure."

He has published a blog post outlining steps the above and what other steps users were advised to take.

Rangespan’s aim was to help retailers forecast what products were needed or desired. For online shoppers, this should mean better suggestions and offers when searching via Google.

“We are very happy to announce that Rangespan is joining Google,” Rangespan said on its website. “We will continue to work on services for shoppers and retailers at Google, and we’re super excited about the opportunities to come.”

Rangespan said it will wind down its services as part of the move.

Google is working to prevent Amazon and EBay from grabbing consumer searches for products online with its Shopping service, which lets people quickly find pictures and prices of items online. The Mountain View, California-based company has been adding new features to the offering, including same-day delivery in some cities.

Rangespan’s co-founders are Matt Henderson and Ryan Regan. Henderson formerly worked at Amazon as a director of merchant services in the U.K., while Regan was chief financial officer at Last.fm Ltd. and worked at Amazon for eight years in roles including managing director.

Fadell says in his blog “We have partnerships with some of the largest energy companies in the country to help people save energy and money. We have a huge team of 25,000+ certified professionals who help install Nest in the US and Canada and our company has more than 300 employees spread across three countries.”

The Nest deal heats up the competition with Apple in the connected-device market, and adds to Google’s acquisition of other hardware based companies such as Motorola Mobility and, more recently, Boston Dynamics.

Industrial Pixel have a large range of expertise in hardware and device programming. Contact us to see how we can help your business.