Protect your website against hackers

Your website is a valuable business asset, but hack attacks are a fact of life. Darien Graham-Smith asks how concerned you should be - and, if you are a victim, how to handle the fallout

Protecting your back-office servers is one thing, but your website is probably hosted by a third party – so it’s understandable if its security is low on your list of priorities. But your site may be more vulnerable than you think – and an attack can have serious consequences.

Circuitbeard Petduino

It’s not every day that I get my hands on a device that acts as both a microcontroller platform and a kid’s toy, but this month Matt Brailsford decided to break the pattern. Known in maker circles as ‘Circuitbeard’, Brailsford has been designing a virtual pet with which to gently steer the next generation of tinkerers.

Velleman 3D Printing Pen

Three-dimensional printers are a big deal at the moment, with every technology company – including outfits such as Arduino, better known for lowcost educational microcontrollers – looking to stick their fingers in the pie. There’s no doubt that they’re handy devices, but they’re still prohibitively expensive; even the cheapest hobby model imported from China will set you back at least £300, and building your own 3D printer – while possible – is technical and fiddly. There’s a gap in the market, then, for an absolute entry-level device – and it’s a gap that toolmaker Velleman is looking to fill with its 3D printing pen.

SCUMM

Rick Lane speaks to SCUMM lord Aric Wilmunder about the definitive adventure game technology behind Monkey Island and Day of the Tentacle

Does SCUMM need any introduction? The Script Creation Utility for Maniac Mansion became the basis for all but two of LucasArts’ adventure games, including The Secret of Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Sam and Max Hit the Road and Full Throttle. During its 12-year existence, SCUMM’s 2D side-scrolling graphics and verb-based interface established the basic framework for the adventure gaming genre, variations of which are still used by many adventure games today.

Corsair Gaming Strafe

Corsair Gaming’s new Strafe is the first totally new design to come out of Corsair’s peripheral arm for a few years, and it takes quite a different approach to features than the classic K-series keyboards.

For a start, while the plastic construction is solid, it’s a far cry from the aluminium used in several of Corsair’s previous efforts, including the K70 and K65. There are also no dedicated media controls – instead you use a combination of a function key and the F keys. That’s a bit of a shame given the price – at £100, the Strafe is only a little cheaper than the venerable K70, which is still available at a few etailers and includes dedicated media controls, while the RGB version available for around £20 more.