News, Inspirations and Food for Thought
On the 21 October two critical PHP security vulnerabilities were disclosed
PHP is the programming language used to drive 70% of the world’s websites. A group of cyber-security researchers and organisations disclosed two vulnerabilities within PHP which they warned could have the potential to upend sites across the internet. The technical bugs, given the technical IDs CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619, were ranked a 9.2 out of 10 in severity by researchers.
Keeping your website secure
All of the websites provided by Faithful.ie use PHP and by 9:00am on 22 October our team ensured all versions of PHP were updated with the latest iteration containing the appropriate latest security patches. All websites were checked and are unaffected. This is one of the advantages of our managed dedicated servers.
Security updates never stop
Keeping on top of website security is what Faithful.ie does - 24 hours a day 365 days a year.
See Why use a Dedicated Server?
What if our website is not provided by Faithful.ie?
You should take immediate steps to contact your web hosting company and ensure the appropriate latest supported version of PHP containing the security patches is installed. e.g. Currently PHP version 8.5.12 (at the time of publication of this article)
Protecting your websites
Breaking News 28 October 2025
Gmail users in Ireland are advised to take urgent action after a massive data breach exposed millions of email addresses and passwords
If you use Gmail for work, shopping, or staying in touch, your account might be a part of a massive new leak.
You can read the full story here:
Data breach affecting all Gmail users in Ireland
If you have a Gmail address you should immediately take the following steps
- Go to haveibeenpwned.com to check whether your email has been leaked
- If it has, immediately reset your Gmail password Here's how
- Make sure your new password is:
- Unique (not used anywhere else)
- Long (at least 12 characters)
- Memorable (e.g. combine favourite colour, father's middle name, food you hate)
- Avoid using Date of birth or phone number
- Check how secure is my password
- Once you have reset your password turn on 2-Step Verification - Here's How
Recommended Reading
Directly emailing your website visitors is an effective enhancement to your communications strategy
It’s a pity but a fact that not everyone makes the effort to regularly read the articles published on your website. However, when news appears in a person’s email inbox it is much more likely to be noticed.
If your website is provided by faithful.ie a facility for people to subscribe can be added to your website.
Take a look at this working example at harbourparishes.ie/subscribe
How does it work?
Any new articles featured on the homepage of your website within a 24-hour period will be compiled and sent in a single personalised email to all your subscribers. This will happen no more than once a day and if no new articles are published in any following 24-hour period no email is sent.
How much does this cost?
If your website is provided by Faithful.ie there is no additional cost for this feature.
Example email sent from the Harbour Parishes website
If you would like to know more about this feature Contact Denis
Why priests shouldn't be using free email services such as Gmail, Hotmail or Outlook
It is suprising that many Priests are still use emails ending with gmail.com
But it's free - So why shouldn't a priest use a free email service...
Stop using free email!
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