This is a brief note to all our readers worldwide, letting you all know that as of late August, 2017, Positive Feedback has shifted to secure Web operations. We have done so by engaging a large and well-known company in the computer/network security industry, Symantec, and its VeriSign secure site certification.
You'll notice the difference nowadays when you log on. Instead of seeing our older insecure Web protocol and URL, http://www.positive-feedback.com, you'll see our new secure Web protocol in place: https://www.positive-feedback.com. Don't worry if you use the old Web address; it will be automatically redirected to the new, secure address.
We all know that the Internet is a wonderful world of great resources, like Positive Feedback, but it is also an extremely dangerous place, filled with hackers, viruses, malware, exploits, phishing attacks, spoofs, and all sorts of nastiness. There are also dangerous Web sites that might look OK, but will actually subject your computer to threats that can take you down, slow you down, or even expose you to ramsonware extortion. Insecure Web sites risk these sorts of problems for their users. Furthermore, most Web sites are run by people/companies that you don't know from a hole in the ground. How do you know that they are who they say they are? How do you know that you can trust them?
For this reason, Google recently announced that their very popular Chrome browser would begin to flag insecure sites (any link starting with http://) as such, and would begin to flash a warning at their users about the dangers of insecure sites. Naturally, an online publication cannot have browsers warning people to avoid their journal!
And so we, the partners at Positive Feedback, have made the decision to invest the resources…time and money…in going to a Symantec VeriSign Secure Site. Verified and secure sites use the https:// (hypertext transfer protocol secure) protocol that automatically encrypts the session connection between our readers and our site. This will lock out the bad things that can otherwise afflict your computer with a very high degree of confidence. Furthermore, it will also show you that Symantec has gone through a significant process of investigation, and has determined that we are a valid company run by verified individuals pursuing a legitimate business. Additionally, Symantec will be performing weekly scans of our site that will help to guard it against new dangers and exploits, and will be reporting the results, including any new Web vulnerabilities to us, so that we may act on them. That will provide a much higher level of security and confidence to our publishing operations, and to you as our valued readers.
We wanted to be sure that you were aware of this change in our operations. At your end, you'll notice no particular change, other than to the Web address in your browser. But be assured…things are now much more secure here at Positive Feedback!
Read on…!
Dr. David W. Robinson
Editor-in-Chief
Photograph by John Robinson; cartoons by Dan Zimmerman and Bruce Walker.