NOD News

This year, in May 2016, the New Order of Druids will exist for 10 years as a non-profit organisation.

The New Order of Druids initially began on February 1, 2003. Originally, it was only a website with a discussion forum, which was later expanded with a college. On May 3, 2006, we became an official non-profit organisation for the first time. The event received a great deal of media attention in the Belgian press. 

The New Order of Druids couldn't be what it is today, without the input of all our members. Therefore, we would like to thank you for your input, help and even simply your presence with us. We hope that, with your help, we will be able to continue to grow!

We would like to inform you about a few changes and updates within the New Order of Druids.

The first update is of interest to all students of the Bardic, Ovate and Druid courses in the Grove of Dana online Druid college. As of now, it will be possible to request a certificate for completed courses in both digital and printed format. The printed version is available only to upgraded members, as it was already the case before, but the digital version is available to all members, including the free ones.

Note that digital certificates are only available for free members if your date of course completion took place on or after September 1, 2014. For upgraded members, this date is extended to July 2007 (for both the printed and digital formats). You can read all the information and requirements at this link:

http://www.druidcircle.org/druid/index.php/en/druid-college/college-certificate

The second update concerns a decision we have had to make in relation to the NOD Circles (work groups). Due to prolongued inactivity in all existing groups, it has been decided to close down these circles. The discussion topics that were posted in the related forums, however, will not be lost as they have been moved into the nearest relevant general forum (mostly The Druid Inn and The Celtic Cauldron, depending on the subject). We regret having to make this decision, but we hope to count on your participation in various other topics of interest in the general forums.

These past few days, you may have heard of several warnings for the so-called "Heartbleed bug". This bug allowed hackers to exploit an OpenSSL vulnerability among several servers, and steal login details (such as passwords) of several well-known websites from Google to Yahoo.

The question is: does the server of the New Order of Druids website (druidcircle.org and druidcircle.net) have the same vulnerability, and do you need to change your NOD account password?

The answer is no. 
Priorweb, the host of the NOD website, has announced on their website that their servers did not use the vulnerable versions of OpenSSL. This means that hackers would not have been able to steal login details from any websites hosted by Priorweb, and that includes the websites of the New Order of Druids. 

In short, you do not need to change your password on the NOD website, unless you happen to use the exact same login details on other websites as well, that do or did have that vulnerability. 

Here you will find a list of websites that have, or have not, been affected by the Heartbleed bug:

http://mashable.com/2014/04/09/heartbleed-bug-websites-affected/

More information on Priorweb's announcement (only available in Dutch):

http://www.priorweb.be/over-ons/nieuws/20140410/kritiek-lek-in-openssl