Security is Not Convenient But It Needs to be Done: Tips for Open Source Users

I love open source software. The concept of groups of extremely talented developers working together to disrupt old models and produce great open source software free for everyone to use is extremely innovative. There is, however, a discipline needed when you use open source software. The most important parts of using open source software is to install security patches and to upgrade the software as new releases become available.  In that way, you can help protect yourself from harmful viruses or malware.

Over the past few days, our operation engineers have been working hard to keep our networks secure against different kinds of bad actors. As part of our effort we found around 100 accounts with vulnerabilities resulting from the failure to update open source software to current more secure versions. To be clear, these vulnerabilities were not related to a hosting platform upgrade, but potentially could have been avoided with updated open source software.

As a courtesy to our customers, Network Solutions cleaned any malicious code we found in accounts that were affected due to vulnerable versions of open source software. It is important to remember that the likelihood of the malicious code being placed back even after we have cleaned it is high  unless the software is upgraded.  The most secure alternative is for you to update your open source software to the latest version immediately. If your account is part of the 100 accounts we have found with outdated, insecure versions of the software, you may have previously received a communication to upgrade to a secure version. To those folks, we again urge you to please take action now to upgrade your open source software.

Due to the nature of the security vulnerability in these open source software package, and the way these vulnerabilities have been exploited, we must continue to reserve the right to protect our systems and as such may need to deactivate re-infected sites.

It is in everyone’s interest to be upgraded to a secure version of the software. If you fail or refuse to install the upgraded versions of the open source software associated with your account, we may be forced to make your site inaccessible until you upgrade.

For your convenience, we list below common open source software used by customers and latest secure versions of that software:

Thank you for your attention and cooperation. If you have questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact the Network Solutions support team.