diff --git a/etc/checksum/md5sum.md5 b/etc/checksum/md5sum.md5
index c854908..6e8ce1d 100644
--- a/etc/checksum/md5sum.md5
+++ b/etc/checksum/md5sum.md5
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ c4ac50a3f3550c62219e7e4f38d4b496  ./lib/plugins/1024.py
 35dc8b7da4becb60662aab3c48a9210b  ./lib/plugins/openxchange.py
 353db8b22c031433ea73a12943927557  ./lib/plugins/clipbucket.py
 ce3b79dc80e369ffd55d2cbe90e6a0ab  ./lib/plugins/mssqlreportmanager.py
-b5ff3286060c0bbc0fe1f0f591131c9c  ./lib/attacks/gist_lookup/__init__.py
+9976a90f1b54439ead699c9e94591662  ./lib/attacks/gist_lookup/__init__.py
 86224bd899c2a2438042cbdc077dc4cc  ./lib/attacks/clickjacking_scan/__init__.py
 d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  ./lib/attacks/__init__.py
 4c644b0e3a62b6c1528d34a04837aa35  ./lib/attacks/sqlmap_scan/__init__.py
@@ -97,12 +97,12 @@ d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  ./lib/attacks/__init__.py
 f87f388a9ded1cd8a7e333353652c4df  ./lib/attacks/xss_scan/__init__.py
 6b8ad5d11aa7f1e2b5f993ca3dde1975  ./lib/attacks/nmap_scan/__init__.py
 216999fa0e84866d5c1d96d5676034e4  ./lib/attacks/nmap_scan/nmap_opts.py
-8ef704ee0460fdec5ea03f47036664fe  ./lib/header_check/__init__.py
+58fc608d8936c34a364dd1cbf6d9f157  ./lib/header_check/__init__.py
 d2f8777360a73a412ef158eff2fdf631  ./lib/core/common.py
 4433353fb5c55578391d8b4006191ee8  ./lib/core/errors.py
 38d8ce4aec42ec147b44a36c69b15ea8  ./lib/core/parse.py
 d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e  ./lib/core/__init__.py
-62f71741205d25ab425f5ef32b39423a  ./lib/core/settings.py
+695cac06efac7a656e1abc4c75c314b3  ./lib/core/settings.py
 de4254c5e40f7aa4fb81e0608f758a2c  ./lib/core/decorators.py
 9a02e5b913d210350545ac26510a63c9  ./var/search/__init__.py
 83928f6c090722d87a905a447cb51aed  ./var/search/selenium_search.py
diff --git a/lib/attacks/gist_lookup/__init__.py b/lib/attacks/gist_lookup/__init__.py
index 9b13276..2836445 100644
--- a/lib/attacks/gist_lookup/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/attacks/gist_lookup/__init__.py
@@ -113,7 +113,6 @@ def check_files_for_information(data_to_search, query):
             )
 
 
-# @lib.core.decorators.tail_call_optimized
 def github_gist_search_main(query, **kwargs):
     """
     main function for searching Gists
@@ -121,7 +120,7 @@ def github_gist_search_main(query, **kwargs):
     proxy = kwargs.get("proxy", None)
     agent = kwargs.get("agent", None)
     verbose = kwargs.get("verbose", False)
-    page_set = kwargs.get("page_set", 10)
+    page_set = kwargs.get("page_set", 5)
 
     # there seems to be a recursion issue in this function,
     # so until I get this figured out, we're going to change
@@ -155,4 +154,4 @@ def github_gist_search_main(query, **kwargs):
     except Exception as e:
         lib.core.settings.logger.exception(lib.core.settings.set_color(
             "Gist search has failed with error '{}'...".format(str(e)), level=50
-        ))
\ No newline at end of file
+        ))
diff --git a/lib/core/settings.py b/lib/core/settings.py
index 8a6cc7e..e62c266 100644
--- a/lib/core/settings.py
+++ b/lib/core/settings.py
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ CLONE = "https://github.com/ekultek/zeus-scanner.git"
 ISSUE_LINK = "https://github.com/ekultek/zeus-scanner/issues"
 
 # current version <major.minor.commit.patch ID>
-VERSION = "1.4.2.{}".format(PATCH_ID)
+VERSION = "1.4.3.{}".format(PATCH_ID)
 
 # colors to output depending on the version
 VERSION_TYPE_COLORS = {"dev": 33, "stable": 92, "other": 30}
diff --git a/lib/header_check/__init__.py b/lib/header_check/__init__.py
index 91a4bd6..90f4d53 100644
--- a/lib/header_check/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/header_check/__init__.py
@@ -1,10 +1,14 @@
 import os
 import re
+import time
 import importlib
 import unicodedata
 
 from xml.dom import minidom
-from requests.exceptions import ConnectionError
+from requests.exceptions import (
+    ConnectionError,
+    ReadTimeout
+)
 
 from var.auto_issue.github import request_issue_creation
 from lib.core.common import (
@@ -113,7 +117,7 @@ def detect_protection(url, status, html, headers, **kwargs):
             return None
 
     except Exception as e:
-        if "Read timed out." or "Connection reset by peer" in str(e):
+        if any(err in str(e) for err in ["Read timed out.", "Connection reset by peer"]):
             logger.warning(set_color(
                 "detection request failed, assuming no protection and continuing...", level=30
             ))
@@ -248,6 +252,7 @@ def main_header_check(url, **kwargs):
     identify_plugins = kwargs.get("identify_plugins", True)
     show_description = kwargs.get("show_description", False)
 
+    default_sleep_time = 5
     protection = {"hostname": url}
     definition = {
         "x-xss": ("protection against XSS attacks", "XSS"),
@@ -260,9 +265,9 @@ def main_header_check(url, **kwargs):
         "content-security": ("header protection against multiple attack types", "ALL")
     }
 
-    req, status, html, headers = get_page(url, proxy=proxy, agent=agent, xforward=xforward)
-
     try:
+        req, status, html, headers = get_page(url, proxy=proxy, agent=agent, xforward=xforward)
+
         logger.info(set_color(
             "detecting target charset..."
         ))
@@ -356,6 +361,27 @@ def main_header_check(url, **kwargs):
             logger.error(set_color(
                 "unable to retrieve headers for site '{}'...".format(url.strip()), level=40
             ))
+    except ConnectionError:
+        logger.warning(set_color(
+            "target actively refused the connection, sleeping for {}s and retrying...".format(
+                default_sleep_time
+            ), level=30
+        ))
+        time.sleep(default_sleep_time)
+        main_header_check(
+            url, proxy=proxy, agent=agent, xforward=xforward, show_description=show_description,
+            identify_plugins=identify_plugins, identify_waf=identify_waf, verbose=verbose
+        )
+    except ReadTimeout:
+        logger.error(set_color(
+            "meta-data retrieval failed due to target URL timing out, skipping...", level=40
+        ))
     except KeyboardInterrupt:
         if not pause():
-            shutdown()
\ No newline at end of file
+            shutdown()
+    except Exception as e:
+        logger.exception(set_color(
+            "meta-data retrieval failed with unexpected error '{}'...".format(
+                str(e)
+            ), level=50
+        ))
\ No newline at end of file