The Technology & Security

TECHNOLOGY

The ZD-CMS™ framework is built for Unix-derivative systems such as Linux and FreeBSD. It makes use of the following technologies:

• Apache for serving resources. Apache is the most-used web server software and powers almost half of the entire web [1].
   
• PHP for server-side processing. PHP is a popular and proven technology for powering web sites. It powers the websites of Yahoo, Wikipedia, Facebook, Flickr, and many others[1]. It is the most-used Apache module [2]. In the right hands, PHP is secure, performant, and maintainable.
   
• Like every programming language, PHP has shortcomings and trade-offs that must be considered. Its syntax, compared with other modern languages such as Python, can appear complicated. Many online resources such as code libraries and APIs were put together by non- experts, so one needs to be discerning about third-party components.
   
• At Zee Designs, we adhere to high standards of code creation and always take security, performance, and maintainability into account.
   
• MySQL is used for storing data. MySQL is fast, reliable, and widely- used. Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP are often used in conjunction and work well together. The acronym LAMP is used to describe this powerful combination of software.
   
• HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for frontend interfaces. We follow standards closely to reap the benefits of accessibility, efficient delivery, search-engine friendliness, and many others. Our HTML and CSS code is semantic and clean while our JavaScript uses progressive enhancement[4] to ensure that all visitors can use our sites effectively. Usability principles are followed for an easy, smooth user experience.
   

SECURITY

Security is a paramount concern for us. We stay up-to-date on vulnerabilities and industry-standard practices for keeping our clients and users safe. We guard against attacks such as SQL injections, XSS, and CSRF, among others.

Whenever sensitive data needs to be stored, we use powerful encryption to protect it. We are experienced in using both symmetric and asymmetric (public/private key) encryption[5]. We always use SSL or SSH to protect sensitive communication.

Following are some helpful resources:

[1] September 2008 Web Server Survey by Netcraft
[2] PHP Usage information at Wikipedia
[3] PHP Usage Stats for April 2007
[4] Progressive Enhancement information at Wikipedia
[5] Description of Symmetric and Asymmetric Encryption from Microsoft® Help & Support