Blog

If you run Google Ads for your business, there’s a security change you should know about—and this is one of those emails from Google that you probably shouldn’t ignore. Google is beginning to require passkeys for certain sensitive actions inside Google Ads. Advertisers receiving the current notice are being told that beginning August 19, 2026, they may not be able to perform actions such as adding users or linking accounts without first setting up a passkey. The good news: this isn't nearly as complicated as it sounds. The better news: it can actually make your Google account …

[Read more...] about Google Ads Is Requiring Passkeys: What Small Business Owners Need to Know

For most small-business owners, WordPress security can feel like something that happens behind the scenes. You update plugins, renew your hosting plan, and assume the website will keep doing its job. Customers visit, fill out forms, request quotes, book appointments, or call your business. But when a serious WordPress vulnerability appears, the danger is not limited to your website files or administrative dashboard. A compromised website can also put your customers, employees, and business reputation at risk. That is the concern surrounding the WordPress vulnerability chain commonly …

[Read more...] about What Happens When Customers Visit a WordPress Site Hacked Through wp2shell?

If your small-business website runs on WordPress, this is not one of those security stories you should save for later. A newly disclosed vulnerability chain known as wp2shell can allow an attacker to run code on certain WordPress websites without logging in, guessing a password, or exploiting a vulnerable plugin. The weakness is in WordPress Core itself, so a basic WordPress installation can be exposed even with no plugins installed. WordPress released emergency security updates on July 17, 2026. The full remote-code-execution chain affects WordPress 6.9.0 through 6.9.4 and WordPress …

[Read more...] about The wp2shell WordPress Flaw: What Small-Business Owners Need to Do Right Now

If you own a small business website, there is a good chance WordPress is doing a lot of heavy lifting for you. It may power your homepage, contact forms, service pages, blog posts, landing pages, analytics scripts, SEO tools, performance settings, cookie banners, and maybe even your online store. That flexibility is exactly why WordPress is so useful. It is also why WordPress security cannot be treated like something you check once and forget. A recent example is the Perfmatters plugin vulnerability flagged through Patchstack/Kadence Security. Perfmatters is a popular performance …

[Read more...] about WordPress Security for Small Business Owners: Why “Just Update It” Is Not a Strategy

If your business website uses Gravity Forms, there’s a new update out: Gravity Forms 2.10.4. This one is not being loudly advertised as a major security release, but it does include a few fixes that are worth paying attention to — especially if your site uses forms for leads, file uploads, customer inquiries, quote requests, applications, or anything else that matters to your business. The update fixes several behind-the-scenes issues, including a problem where the REST API modal could create duplicate API keys, some file upload handling improvements, and fixes related to upload folder …

[Read more...] about Small Business PSA: Don’t Ignore the Gravity Forms 2.10.4 Update

Somewhere right now, a WordPress site owner is staring at two browser tabs like they’re choosing a heart surgeon. In one tab: Wordfence Pro. In the other: Kadence Security Pro. A third tab is probably open too, because this is the internet and no decision is allowed to remain a decision. Maybe it’s Patchstack. Maybe MalCare. Maybe Sucuri. Maybe a Reddit thread where a man named “PluginGoblin1978” says all security plugins are bloat and real professionals secure WordPress using only Nginx rules, a leather-bound notebook, and vibes. The site owner leans back, squints, and asks the …

[Read more...] about The Best WordPress Security Plugin Is the One Attached to a Functioning Adult

There is a very specific kind of panic that happens when software announces it is “becoming more connected.” It is the same panic you feel when a relative says, “I’ve been thinking about staying with you for a while,” and then immediately starts asking where you keep the towels, whether the Wi-Fi reaches the guest room, and if your thermostat “has an app.” That is roughly where WordPress 7.0 lands. WordPress 7.0 “Armstrong” has arrived, and like every major WordPress release, it comes wrapped in the traditional language of progress: smoother editing, cleaner dashboards, better design …

[Read more...] about WordPress 7.0 and the Great AI Houseguest Problem

There’s a special kind of optimism unique to WordPress administrators. It’s the optimism of clicking “Update Plugin” while thinking, Surely this one just fixes spacing in the sitemap again. We’ve all developed this muscle memory. Plugin update appears. Changelog says something vague like “minor improvements and bug fixes.” We nod approvingly, as though software updates are woodland creatures quietly restoring balance to the ecosystem. Sometimes that’s true. And sometimes the update notes are effectively: Fixed an issue where contributors could accidentally become Apache warlords …

[Read more...] about The Plugin That Asked for SEO Permissions and Then Took the House

There’s something oddly comforting about the modern internet.Every website claims to be protected by “enterprise-grade security,” “AI-powered threat detection,” and enough acronyms to make a Pentagon contractor blush. Meanwhile, somewhere in a dimly lit apartment, a bot from halfway across the planet is repeatedly trying to log into your website using the username “admin” and the password “password123.” And sometimes?That bot is surprisingly close. Recently, we noticed a flood of login attempts hitting a WordPress site through a URL that looked something like …

[Read more...] about The Internet’s Dumbest Treasure Map Is Your WordPress Login Page

For years, developers treated certain Google API keys the way you treat a house key hidden under a rock. Not ideal, but acceptable—because the landlord (Google) explicitly said, “Relax, that key only opens the shed.” So people built systems around that assumption. They embedded keys in client-side JavaScript. They shipped products. They slept at night. And then one day, without warning, the shed key started opening the entire house… and also the neighbor’s house… and also a data center full of very expensive AI. No email. No pop-up. No “Hey, quick heads up, your harmless key is now a …

[Read more...] about The Day Google Quietly Turned Your Front Door Key Into a Master Key (and Forgot to Mention It)