In the last few days, we have seen questions regarding the recently released ImageTragick vunerabilites. We began working to patch and protect the CloudAccess.net platform shortly after the vunerability was announced. Here are a few commonly asked questions that we have seen.

What is ImageTragick / CVE-2016–3714?

ImageTragick is the internet nickname that was given to CVE-2016–3714 to help spread the word of this vulnerability to end users and the media. It features a website and a logo and is a pun based on "ImageMagick".

It’s no secret that our team takes client feedback very seriously. Whether it’s an idea for a new feature or time saving improvement, we stand ready to build and innovate to help our clients do more with the CloudAccess.net Platform. Here are a few exciting updates that have taken place recently.

Your Site Replications are Now Faster!

We all know that replications are done with just a few clicks on the CloudAccess.net platform. When a client clicks the replicate button, the “originating site” automagically overwrites the “target site” all behind the scenes. Our Platform Team has now updated this process to reduce the time in which the target site is offline. This was done by moving and extracting the originating site’s files while keeping the target site up and running. Then once the target site’s files are ready, the directories are swapped and the replication is completed. A complicated way of saying that the feature is now better than ever! BTW, this also applies to your backups when you use the “Restore to Alternate Site” function.

Ring in the New Year with Big Savings on Hosting and Support Plans

As we make our way into 2016, we would like to step back and take a look at what is important to us - what has helped us get to where we are over the last year. Here at CloudAccess.net we appreciate our clients, especially those who are with us for the long haul. For those reasons, we will be passing along even more savings to our clients.

Starting today, we are providing a 2 and 3 year option on our hosting and support plans!

The latest version, Joomla 3.4.6, has been released today. This release includes a high priority security patch for Joomla versions 3.x. The exploit affects all Joomla versions, 1.5 to 3.x.

We proudly welcome “File Explorer”, the latest addition in our Cloud Control Panel. When setting out to create this great feature, we had two goals in mind. It needs to be intuitive and powerful. Our team opted for a zero clutter, minimal layout.. a refreshing contrast to other file managers on the market. 

Introducing DB Find and Replace

As a website builder or administrator, there are a few types of headaches or so called “web-aches” that you may be keenly aware of. At CloudAccess.net, we are in the business of alleviating these so called web-aches... our goal is to make building and running a website easier, and that all starts with understanding the needs of our customers.

Today we would like to announce DB Find and Replace; a highly anticipated tool within our control panel. Don’t be fooled by it’s seemly elementary name.. this is a powerful tool that can save hours of troubleshooting and helps sooth various types of web-aches primarily associated with the WordPress CMS.

We are excited to announce our improved Backup Manager in the Cloud Control Panel. Among the new features included is a "Restore to Alternate Site" allowing clients to easily backup and restore between sites on the CloudAccess.net Platform. You will also find a new and improved user interface and a few other useful features. 

Improved User Interface

You will immediately notice a new, more intuitive user interface. The backups remain listed in chronological order and the same general backup specifications are displayed, but we have now expanded the vertical space that a backup occupies to accommodate larger buttons and distinct labels that will help users understand the general functions at a glance. 

Titles and Comments

Prior to this Backup Manager update, an individual backup's time-stamp was the best way to identify it from the others. We have now added the ability to attach a title and comments to your backups. This allows clients to keep their backups more organized by providing an identifier on the backup itself. 

Earlier today a zero-day XSS vulnerability was discovered, and it appears to affect all versions of WordPress. This vulnerability resulted in a critical security update release and it is recommended to update your WordPress site immediately.

The CloudAccess.net Abuse Team learned of the vulnerability shortly after its release. Within 2 hours, our team had crafted security measures at the server level in an effort to thwart this particular attack vector. The action taken by our team will likely result in less infected sites on the CloudAccess.net network and ultimately less affected clients.

The CloudAccess.net Platform is built specifically for hosting WordPress and Joomla websites. The well-being of these sites is our top priority and we take these types of vulnerabilities very seriously. As the Joomla and WordPress communities continue to harden the applications, CloudAccess.net will continue to evaluate each application's security at the server level.

Last week, my colleague Derek Snieg posted a blog titled What to Expect in Joomla! 3.4. WordPress 4.1 came out last December, and you can now launch free WordPress 4.1 sites on our platform so I thought it would be a good idea to write about the new features you can find in the newest version of WordPress. Below is an overview of the major feature inclusions. 

Twenty Fifteen - the New Default Theme

As most of us know, WordPress was first developed as a blogging platform, and Twenty Fifteen is a new theme that gets back to these roots. Twenty Fifteen is a clean, elegantly-designed, highly-customizable, blog-focused theme. It looks great on all devices, whether mobile or stationary, and comes with improved language support from Google's Noto Font family.

Distraction Free Mode

Ever want to just write? Doing so in WordPress 4.1 is easier than ever with the improved distraction-free writing mode. This feature has actually been around for a while now, but the way the interface fades in and out and the accessibility of the full toolbar has changed.

With the release of Joomla 3.4 just around the corner, you might be wondering what new features this release will bring. Well, wonder no more. I installed the Beta 2 version and took a look around. This blog contains a list of new features you can expect in the next version of Joomla. Please bear in mind that since 3.4 is still in beta testing, the final look and feel of these features may change for the stable release, but they shouldn’t change much.

Release Dates

First, let’s take a look at the release dates.

• February 10, 2015 - 3.4 Release Candidate
• February 17th, 2015 - 3.4 Stable Release

Beta 2 came out on February 3rd, and these release dates may change depending on the bugs that are found. In just a few days we’ll have a release candidate and, hopefully, a stable release a week after that.