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Article - Upgraded Administrator Password Requirements Coming




InstaPage continues to evaluate our security protocols, and in accordance we will soon be upgrading the requirements for both InstaPage HOA Website Site Administrators, and for our InstaPage Management Partner System Administrators.

Shortly, on login to either your InstaPage Site Administrator Control Panel, or your InstaPage Management Partner System Administrator Control Panel, you will see a new popup asking you to update your admin password to meet the new requirements: a new minimum 8 character password with at least one symbol, use of upper and lower case letters, and at least one number.

We believe you will find these new requirements similar to upgraded password requirements on many other websites. By raising the password standards, we will be substantially reducing the possibility of hacking of your admin control panel system, thus improving protection of your data. We understand this may create a minor inconvenience for administrators but feel the benefits outweigh any such loss of admin time. Should you have any questions, please email us at support@instapage.net.

SSL REMINDER:

We are still seeing to few clients adding SSL encryption to their InstaPage HOA Websites. Please read on as to why you should expedite moving to secure your site.

THE PROBLEM:

In 2016 Google, the "make-or-break" search engine nearly monopolizing internet searches, decided to give a small boost to SSL secured websites in its search algorithms. This change alone sent website owners that were reliant on search engine visibility for traffic scurrying to secure their websites. Management companies and vendors should have made the SSL commitment on that basis alone at that time to avoid ceding an edge to their competitors. Of course, Google visibility also helps your residents find their HOA websites when they need them.

The pressure to apply SSL security ramped up significantly in late 2016 as new browser releases began generating cautionary warnings such as shown below, causing user concerns and worries as shown in the side-by-side screenshots below.



The most significant warnings are now being applied to the login boxes on websites requiring entry of a userid and password to login, which includes of our InstaPage HOA websites. The result has been an upswell in user complaints and worries, and some users refusing to use the websites fearing lack of safety. The below screenshot reflects one example. Browser makers seem to have concluded that as users tend to use the same logins on most sites they use, a hacking of that login from an otherwise low risk site could expose the user on other more sensitive sites where he or she may have used that same login.



ELIMINATING ALARMING WARNINGS:

The only means of eliminating these warnings is to purchase & install an SSL certificate on the web server for the domain for the website, and to adjust forwarding to push all images and non https:// URL's through the SSL. To complicate matters, not all SSL certificates are equal, in fact, Google has indicated it's Chrome browser will cease accepting Symantec SSL certificates due to shoddy issuance procedures (read "Google Chrome will no longer trust Symantec certificates, 30% of the web will need to switch Certificate Authorities").

In conclusion, the impact of the foregoing changes have made it abundantly clear that SSL encryption is critical not only for proper security, but so your users will feel comfortable in using your HOA website. We again urge our clients to add SSL encryption to their websites if they have not already done so. First year cost through our company to SSL secure your site is a reasonable $99, less on future renewals. Please contact us at support@instapage.net for further information, or to order your SSL certificate.