Kahl Consultants Small business web services

The Marin Green Drinks business mixer this month meets on February 14, 2017 Valentines Day. So we'll meet a little earlier.

Normally we meet from 5:30-7:30 PM but on Valentines Day our meeting is from 5 PM to 6 PM.

Our special guest speaker is James Farag from Patagonia Provisions. James will talk about why Patagonia is now selling food and he'll even have some samples of their new beer.

You can order excellent organic food, beer and wine during Marin Green Drinks. Better make a reservation if you plan to dine at Lotus Cuisine of India after 6 PM since it is Valentines Day!

The San Rafael Chamber of Commerce is a member-based business advocacy organization providing a strong voice in support of the economic vitality of our community.

This coming March 16, 2017 San Rafael Chamber of Commerce will hold the State of the City/Best of San Rafael 2017. This annual event will feature the State of City address by Mayor Gary Phillips and an awards ceremony to celebrate Citizen of the Year, Employee of the Year, and the Small and Large Businesses of the Year and Green Business of the Year.

State of the City/Best of San Rafael 2017 starts at 5:00 PM and ends at 9:30 PM at Peacock Gap Clubhouse 333 Biscayne Drive, San Rafael the largest event space in Marin County which provide beautiful meeting spaces for groups of all sizes.

For more information click here.

Do you have a Wordpress CMS website? Then you're familiar with the need for regular security and maintenance updates.

WordPress 4.7.2 is now available. This is a security release for all previous versions and we strongly encourage you to update your sites immediately.

WordPress versions 4.7.1 and earlier are affected by some issues:

• The user interface for assigning taxonomy terms in Press This is shown to users who do not have permissions to use it.
• WP_Query is vulnerable to a SQL injection (SQLi) when passing unsafe data. WordPress core is not directly vulnerable to this issue, but we’ve added hardening to prevent plugins and themes from accidentally causing a vulnerability.
• A cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability was discovered in the posts list table.
• An unauthenticated privilege escalation vulnerability was discovered in a REST API endpoint.

If you need help with wordpress security updates please GIVE KAHL A CALL.

To learn more click here.

Millions of people are victims of identity fraud every year and the situation is getting worse every year. A key factors for this is the rise in data breaches.

This checklist can help you safeguard yourself against identity theft:

8 THINGS YOU CAN DO TO PREVENT IDENTITY THEFT

1) Enroll Your Domains in Domain Privacy

"Domain privacy" is a bit of a misnomer -- it's not the domain that needs protection; it's that personal information of yours which is publicly available in the global "whois" database of domain names. Harvesting from "whois" information can help identity thieves to impersonate you.

2) Protect Yourself Against Spyware

Spyware is malware downloaded to your computer or website, without your knowledge or consent, that runs in the background and collects information about you. Make sure you have an anti-virus as well as anti-spyware protection on your computer. Basic anti-spyware is usually free, for example SpywareBlaster.

3) Use Caution When Entering Information Online

When providing personal or financial information online, be sure that you have a secure connection. The URL in the address bar should say "https" or "shttp." A closed padlock symbol also indicates a secure connection. To make your website secure this way, purchase an SSL certificate.

4) Create Strong Passwords

Generating strong passwords and keeping track of them all can be a hassle, but it's critical that to have strong passwords for every site you visit. There are tools to remember all your passwords like KeePass.

5) Use Discretion When Sharing Information

Be discreet when updating social media. Even if you limit the people who access your profile(s), the information is still published online and can be copied and pasted elsewhere. If anyone asks you for personal information, make sure they are who they claim to be and that there is a legitimate reason for the request.

6) Stop Unsolicited, "Pre-Approved" Credit Offers

Opt out of pre-screened credit/insurance offers to prevent potential thieves from intercepting and accepting the offers in your name. Opting out doesn't affect your eligibility for credit or insurance and it only takes 2 minutes to fill out the request at OptOutPrescreen.com.

You can limit the number of unsolicited emails (spam) you receive by adjusting your spam filter settings.

7) Shred Confidential Information

When disposing papers with identifying information, shred them. This includes unsolicited credit card offers.

8) Review Accounts Regularly

Monitor your accounts online frequently to discover potential issues.