About 3 days ago a new security hole in SSL protocol was discovered. It has been named "POODLE Attack (CVE-2014-3566)". We have already implemented a protection against his security hole on all our servers. However, this protection - based on deactivating protocol SSL v3, amongst other things - affects the compatibility of old browsers. Therefore we thought it necessary to inform you about our proactive course of action.

From 17 October 2014 Internet Explorer 6 under Windows XP is not supported any longer.

Thanks to this measure, our servers have been given the highly-demanded Qualys' "A+ rating". Everyone can run a server check themselves at https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/. Detailled information on the topic can be found at: https://community.qualys.com/blogs/securitylabs/2014/10/15/ssl-3-is-dead-killed-by-the-poodle-attack

Yesterday the media and in particular specialized press have started reporting extensively about the Heartbleed bug. This bug has been classified as severe because it makes it possible to extract data from computers using the normally protected SSL system for data transmission.

Shortly after news about the bug had been released, the entire infrastructure as well as all affected computers were updated.

We advise our customers to check their system infrastructure as well. Please do not restrict the check to servers. Also test company workplaces and pay special attention to your company firewalls as they frequently use OpenSSL.

Versions 1.0.1 to 1.0.1f of the OpenSSL library are affected by the Heartbleed bug.

A bug fix - in form of version 1.0.1g - has been released on 7 April 2014.

Please contact us at any time if you have further questions.

Upline also supports you in this matter! From 1 February 2014, businesses have to adhere to specific technical standards when processing bank transfer and direct debit payments, e.g. using IBAN and the ISO 20022 XML for electronic deliveries.

Upline GmbH has collected all available data and implements the new regulations in Upline.

Please contact us if you have any questions on this topic.

The credit card companies Master Card and VISA have changed the "Can-option"! The display of credit card company logos is now a "must". The logos have to be visible in your company webpage's payment section.

As of now, credit card company logos have to be embeded in an appropriate manner ("must-option"). It is important not to put any provider at a disadvantage in terms of presentation on the website compared to other payment providers. Also, the logos have to be imbedded in a manner that does not suggest that the credit card companies are the providers of product or service on the website. Pay special attention to these details as non-compliance with the regulations can lead to payout stops!

Over the last few weeks, we have been updating our reverse proxy infrastructure. This involves important advantages for Upline clients.

Clients using modern browsers such as Chrome V27, Firefox V21, Internet Explorer 10, Safari iOS 6.01 and Safari V5.1.9 now have performance characteristics such as "Forward Secrecy" and "SPDY" available to them.

These mechanism increase website speed significantly - up to 55% for encrypted connections according to Google.

On 16 May 2012 the Bundesgesetzblatt (Federal Legal Gazette) published details about the "button solution" regarding the new regulations for more transparency in online sales as passed by the German government. The "button solution" aims at guarding against cost and subscription traps that customers had been lured into in the past. This is an important step for restoring customer trust in online sales.

The expensive and complicated qualified digital signature is not required anymore as of 1 July 2011. Save the postage costs!

Until recently, electronic invoices in Germany had to bear a qualified electronic signature. Invoices without the signature were disregarded for tax purposes. This procedure turned out to be an impediment to the proliferation of electronic invoicing.

The German Steuervereinfachungsgesetzes (law on simpler tax procedures) of 2011 has abolished the necessity for said signature as of 1 July 2011. However, the new regulations state that "business owners are now responsible themselves for establishing proof of origin, content integrity and readability of their invoices.“

We recommend using a normal digital signature. Just like the qualified signature, the normal digital signature is linked to its associated data in a manner that makes a subsequent amendment of the data apparent. The normal digital signature is sufficient to establish the authenticity and integrity of invoices. Readability is already established through the use of the data format "PDF".

We have devised a solution fitting seamlessly into Upline's workflow: integrating the signature directly into the pdf document. Of all available options, this solution is by far the most user-friendly.
Save costs for postage, printing, paper, envelopes and protect the environment at the same time!

In case you have not been using a web analysis tool so far, we would encourage you to start utilizing one now.

It helps improve your websites, detect aborted orders, understand your users, determine conversion rates and comes with a lot of valuable information for your marketing.

In the past, the specialized press has been reporting frequently about the use of tools for market analysis in relation to its incompatibility with German data protection laws. The "Unabhängige Landeszentrum für Datenschutz Schleswig-Holstein" (ULD - Independent Regional Center for Data Protection Schleswig-Holstein) has confirmed this via technical analysis. However, the ULD has not only found out what does not work, but also points out a possible alterative: Piwik.
For this reason, we have examined this open source tool and have come to the conclusion that is a valid alternative to other analysing tools. We integrated Piwik into our software. You can use this tool immediately from now on!