CodeGuard’s systems perform at 99.9% levels, which means that roughly 1 out of 1,000 websites encounters an issue on a daily basis. Hosting providers perform maintenance on servers, customers change FTP login credentials, and IP whitelisting settings for database connections can change, based upon hosting provider server admin activity. These are common behaviors and not cause for concern, as CodeGuard determines the root cause for the lack of connectivity, and emails the customer so they can remediate.

CodeGuard relies upon industry best practices to protect customers’ data. All backups and passwords are encrypted, secure connections (SFTP/SSH/SSL) are utilized if possible, and annual vulnerability testing is conducted by an independent agency. To-date, there has not been a data breach or successful hack or attack upon CodeGuard.

CodeGuard was started in 2010, inspired by problems faced by small business owners. Technology angel investors and venture capitalists funded CodeGuard in the early stages and the company is now profitably growing – so there is no need to worry about your backups going anywhere!

Backups are stored on Amazon Web Services Simple Storage System, known as S3. S3 boasts object durability levels of 99.999999999%, achieved by storing redundant copies of data across multiple geographies and facilities. S3 is not the cheapest alternative for data storage, but it is one of the most reliable.

Our data stored on Amazon Web Services (AWS) is stored utilizing Server Side Encryption (SSE). AWS handles key management and key protection for us, with one of the strongest block ciphers available, 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES-256).

Two different types of passwords are stored on our system – customer account passwords to log into CodeGuard, and passwords for customer server credentials (FTP/SFTP, MySQL). The customer account passwords are stored with a one-way salted hash. At rest, these passwords reside in Amazon’s Relational Database Service (RDS). Customer server credential passwords are stored in RDS with RSA 2048-bit key encryption.

Not necessarily. Hosting companies tend to keep your backups in the same place as your primary files. You don’t carry around a copy of your birth certificate along with the actual one – you keep the real one safe at home for emergencies. So why not do the same for your backups? CodeGuard provides safe, offsite backup that is 100% independent from your hosting provider.

But don’t just take our word for it – there are plenty of folks who agree.

“The back-up systems of most web-services providers leave a lot to be desired. The back-ups sound reassuring in theory – you are assured that your data is always ‘backed-up’ on a system that is completely separate from the main one … But then, when you dig, you often discover that that means the data is simply copied to another file on the same box or another box in the same data room.” – Business Insider, 4/28/11

Yes – CodeGuard works the same way regardless of the type of website or platform you use! We are compatible with popular Content Management Systems like WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento, but there are many others that CodeGuard can work with.

If the platform you use meets the following criteria, CodeGuard can be used for your website and database backup needs:

1. You must have access to your website’s FTP/SFTP credentials in order to connect to CodeGuard.
2. Your site must use MySQL or MS-SQL databases.
3. You must be able to whitelist the following CodeGuard IP addresses so that we can remotely connect to your database:

• – 54.236.233.46
• – 54.236.233.28
• – 54.174.91.34
• – 54.174.153.212
• – 54.174.115.171

All file content is retrieved for the first backup using the “get” command over FTP or SFTP. Disk I/O is utilized as each file is retrieved and transferred to our servers. CPU and memory needs are minimal.

Subsequent backups are differential and do not entail transferring all content. This is achieved by utilizing the “ls – list” command and examining the metadata for each file: name, size, timestamp, file type, permissions, and last modified date. If any of these have changed, or a new file has been added, we will transfer the changed or added file to our servers. If a file has been deleted, we take note and adjust our repository accordingly. Since only changed file content is transferred, the vast majority of subsequent backups cause minimal memory, CPU, and I/O server needs.

When a customer seeks to restore a previous version of their website, the first thing CodeGuard does is to check the live website to see what content is on it. This enables us to quickly push (or pull) the differences to or from your site. For instance, you might experience a hack that changes your .htaccess file and nothing else. Rather than reload your entire site, CodeGuard would simply replace the infected .htaccess file with your old clean copy.

Short answer: No. Long answer: See “How It Works” section, or the “How It Works” question on this page.

No.

Yes.

For adding your website, you will need the following information:

• – Website URL
• – Hostname/IP Address
• – SFTP/FTP Username
• – SFTP/FTP Password
• – Port Number
• – Root Directory

The following support video will walk you through creating an account with CodeGuard:

If you have forgotten your password, visit the password reset page to request a reset. You will need to supply the email address associated with your CodeGuard account.

If you have forgotten the email address that you use for login with CodeGuard we recommend that you contact us directly at 1-888-256-2608. Our support staff will help you get access to your account again and straighten out any other issues!.

CodeGuard takes password security very seriously, and we encourage you to do the same! Here are some general guidelines to follow while creating a password:

Make it long

The longer the better. One of the most common password cracking techniques online is a method known as “brute force” attacking. Basically, the attacker will randomly try to guess as many different password combinations as they can in a short amount of time, hoping to eventually get lucky and “guess right” on what the password may be. Password crackers are generally good at looking for common patterns as well, so it is probably best to avoid such combinations like “abc” or “123.”

Make it unpredictable

Variety is also a good technique to use when thinking of a good password. This means that using uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, symbols and punctuation marks all in the same password are very good rules to follow. If we look back at our average password cracker, if they were to know that a person’s password only consisted of lowercase letters, the number of combinations they would have to try before they guessed a password correct would decrease significantly. So the more variety of characters you use, the harder it will be for an attacker to guess your password.

Make it memorable

It would be awesome if all of us could have unique passwords like “kh30.e”79JK039;/;&&;“, but let’s face it, those are really hard to remember! So what else can be done? Just remember that long passwords are still always the best way to go. If it is easier to remember words, then try picking four random words out of your head and stringing them together. An example could be, “billiards hippie pineapple juice.” They are four random words that are strung together, making a really long password (29 characters long!) but it is also much easier to remember. These are called passphrases, and to make a passphrase even more secure you could try capitalizing some of the words or entering some numbers at the beginning or end.

Whatever password you end up choosing, rest assured that CodeGuard has taken every precaution to make sure that your passwords are stored safely, and kept far away from the hands of a password cracker. A few final tips would be to not include personal information in your password (birthdate, name, phone number) or keep it on a sticky-note attached to your computer monitor!

Happy password making!

CodeGuard takes password security very seriously, and we encourage you to do the same! Here are some general guidelines to follow while creating a password:

There are a few reasons why your credit card may be declined on our payment page. The most common reason is that the credit card number, CVV, or expiration date that was entered is incorrect. Make sure to double check that these values are correct before trying again.

The payment processor that we currently use has had occasional problems with credit cards that are overseas. You might also see this error if your issuer is not a participator. CodeGuard currently accepts all major credit cards such as Visa, American Express, MasterCard, and Discover.

Feel free to contact CodeGuard Support at 1-888-256-2608 for further help if it is needed. We will do whatever we can to make sure your account is created successfully, and your websites are on their way to being protected!

Your CodeGuard dashboard is viewable through your Bluehost account. First, log into your Bluehost account.

1. Go to My Sites tab on the Left Nav Bar  
2. Hover mouse over the website you’ve linked to your CodeGuard Account and click on Manage Site  
3. Under the Backups tab, click on Login to CodeGuard  

Your CodeGuard dashboard is viewable through your Bluehost account. First, log into your Bluehost account.

1. Login into your Bluehost account
2. Hover mouse over the website you’ve linked to your CodeGuard Account and click on Manage Site
3. Under the Backups tab, click on Login to CodeGuard
4. Click the Change Plan button

Bluehost takes care of all the billing for your CodeGuard Cloud Backup. When you renew your annual subscription, they oversee that process, and can also assist if you need help upgrading or downgrading.

If you have any questions about this, please contact the excellent Bluehost Support Team as they will certainly be able to assist you.

There are two convenient ways to contact the Bluehost support team:

1. Call Bluehost at 1.888.401.4678. System administrators and knowledgeable professionals are available 24×7 to answer your questions and assist you.
2. Live chat with Bluehost – https://helpchat.bluehost.com/

For all CodeGuard account/billing questions, please contact Bluehost Support. You have two options to receive support for your needs:

1. Call Bluehost at 1.888.401.4678. System administrators and knowledgeable professionals are available 24×7 to answer your questions and assist you.
2. Live chat with Bluehost – https://helpchat.bluehost.com/ – and their staff can assist you.