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Areas affected, according to downdetector.com |
One of Center Stage Software's servers went down Saturday as part of the massive cyber attack last week
We thought we were one of the lucky ones whose websites weren't affected by the crippling DNS attacks on Friday. But it wasn't to be. By Saturday, it had caught up with us and taken down our Data5 server. Fortunately, we were able to get everyone back up within a couple of hours.
We were able to get timely communications off to all those affected, too, while it was happening, but the bigger concern is that these kinds of attacks are becoming more sophisticated, and more frequent. And hackers are using our love of smart, internet-connected devices against a wider infrastructure.
"Security researchers have long warned that the increasing number of devices being hooked up to the internet, the so-called Internet of Things, would present an enormous security issue. And the assault on Friday, security researchers say, is only a glimpse of how those devices can be used for online attacks," said the New York Times on Friday, Oct. 21.
Bruce Rowe, our head programmer, wrote an insightful account of what happened to our server and how we solved the problem.
In the next newsletter: how to prepare for these outages, and other potential disasters.
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Keep your website safe!
Speaking of internet security, the http part of your website has a very powerful ally - the letter "s." When it becomes "https" a little lock will appear in the upper left hand side of your address bar.
That means the site is encrypted and secure because it has an SSL Certificate.
Previously, having that certificate has been expensive - sometimes
prohibitively so.
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Did you ever notice that there is a 0 (zero) among the valid price codes included in the Wintix seating plans?
Wintix uses the 0 (zero) as a default for complimentary tickets on seating charts. For General Admission, there is a place to add the number of comps.
There are a couple of different ways you can designate comps, though, depending on how you need to track them for accounting purposes. You can even have several price categories set for complimentary tickets.
Learn about the different ways to set up comps here.
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What do you do if you've already sold the seats you want to use as House Seats?
Well, for this particular performance, you'll need to choose other seats to be House Seats because Wintix won't let you override sold seats.
For the future, though, you can set up certain seats to be permanent house seats that you can reserve for as many shows as you like.
Read more about what to do here.
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Microsoft's auto-upgrade to Windows 10 causes distress to man with Alzheimer's and his family
His son had kept his father's computer configured to look like XP, the system he knew before the disease started to take effect, so it would give him some familiarity and comfort.
Worley discovered it was well worth it to fight the giant software company in small claims court and restore a small part of his father's peace of mind.
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Raise the flag!
Flags have been used for centuries because they tell you a lot at a glance - kind of like historical logos or emojis.
Wintix has flags, too. Are you using them?
Wintix has a feature called "Notify Flags" that can help alert the box office when someone special, like a donor or a board member, is purchasing a ticket. Or to notify you if someone has special needs, such as those with vision or hearing problems.
You can put notify flags in a customer's record. When you do a sale to them, a reminder will appear so you can treat them especially well during their purchase.
Then you can obtain a list of patrons who have a notify flag, so you assign them special seats, treat them to an exclusive reception, send them a thank you card, or anything you can dream up to make them feel special.
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Don't forget to update your Wintix software to 10/19/16!
Make a pledge: no Halloween candy until you do!
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