Today’s Internet is not the same Internet that we enjoyed just a decade or so ago. The Internet moves faster than life at times. Part of life is new laws and regulations that effect the Internet for users in certain countries. It is no big secret that governments around the globe are tightening their grip on the Internet within their borders. With offshore web hosting, you may be able to avoid some of the more restrictive, i.e. unfair, regulations in your country. This article is in no way condoning illegal activities, rather offering information on avoiding restrictive and unfair regulations that hurt progress and sharing of information.
The benefits of offshore web hosting are widespread and valuable for many businesses on the Internet. Privacy is a huge bonus to offshore web hosting. On today’s Internet, knowing who is behind a popular website could be valuable information and, thusly used for ill gain by the wrong individual. Protecting your privacy online is tough as hackers get better and better. Unfortunately, they are often one step ahead compared to the security firms. The best way to protect your privacy is to use offshore web hosting.
With offshore web hosting your website may be able to seek protection from the country it is hosted in. This is no different than companies using offshore banking accounts to store money away from their home countries. This method of money distribution allows the companies to legally avoid taxes and fees for bringing that money “home”. The same thing can be applied to your website. Offshore web hosting puts your website somewhere else in the world, somewhere that may have more relaxed regulations for your business. This may allow someone to do business that would otherwise be blocked due to regulations in their home country.
When picking an offshore web hosting provider please keep in mind these simple protections that need to be available to you. We have had excellent experience with an Icelandic offshore web hosting provider. Feel free to see if their services are fit to your project.
Domain privacy (or private WHOIS) means that your offshore web hosting service provider is not allowing your ownership credentials to be publicly available. This adds an additional level of privacy to your security. This is also often an add-on option with most offshore web hosting companies. The company we used offered this feature free of charge.
Private e-mail is as the name implies, private. When working on the Internet it is quite easy to tip your security hat a little too much. How? Via your e-mail provider. If your e-mail does not offer hidden IP address and full Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) then it is not protecting your information in transit across the Internet.
Your offshore web hosting company also should offer enterprise security on all accounts. This includes the latest firewall software, Virtual Private Network (VPN) access and possibly even two factor authentication. Two factor authentication makes use of a secondary option whenever a login attempt is made. This secondary option could be a text message to a cell phone, use of an app on a pre-registered smart phone or some other format of only allowing the true owners access to a site or account.
Distributed Denial of Service Attacks (DDoS) is something your offshore web hosting company must be prepared to handle also. DDoS attacks are simply overloading your web hosting company with visits so that they pull your site.
Research potential offshore web hosting companies prior to making your decision. Some will have better options as standard benefits while others will probably attempt to charge for those benefits. Evaluate what you need prior to checking out offshore web hosting companies to help make sure you are not being taken for a ride. Remember, your privacy is key, if they cannot guarantee that, go to the next host.
