In the early days of the internet, an occasional website hack may have been done ultimately to boost the ego of the hacker. While this certainly still happens, sites these days are hacked for far more serious reasons, as well. Most people are shocked to discover that most sites have regular attempted attacks on them. So why would a hacker target your site? There are several reasons:
Stealing Your Customers’ Information – If you receive any customer information through your site – credit card information for product sales, intake forms or event registrations, etc. – you are a potential target for hackers. Not only do your customers have a reasonable right to expect safe interactions on your site, in many cases you are legally responsible for keeping your customers’ information secure.
Just for the Fun of it – This is one of the most unsettling motives, because it means that literally everyone is a target. Unfortunately, some people find it entertaining to hack websites just to shut them down, or to replace them with inappropriate content.
Got Spam? – Unethical individuals will hack your site to send emails from your server. By the time this is discovered, “you” may have sent thousands of spam emails – advertising pharmaceuticals, gambling, weight loss products, etc. – not only injuring your reputation, but also potentially getting your server blacklisted for sending spam.
The list could go on and on, but the point is this: No website, no matter how small, is immune to hacking attempts.
So what can you do? The most important thing that anyone with a website should do is perform regular backups and updates. Recent and complete backups are essential should anything ever happen to your site. Keep in mind that by the time you need the backup, it’s too late to do one. Updates include making sure you’re running the latest version of WordPress or whichever platform you’re using, as well as any themes or plugins you may be using.
Beyond that, it’s also very important to stay up to date on the latest methods that hackers are using to compromise sites. By staying current on all of the latest trends, you’ll be able to build secure defenses before you need them.
What to do if you don’t have the time or experience to stay on top of all of this? Hire reputable and experienced professionals to take care of everything for you! At RWS, we have 20+ years of experience in security, and websites are our specialty. When we manage a site for you, you can rest easy, knowing that we are doing everything we can to keep your site secure. On top of that, we create regular backups so that just in case anything should ever happen, we will have you up and running again in no time. Call us today to find out how easy it is to gain the peace of mind we offer: 202-409-8113.