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OK, this is a of bit alarmist post title, but seriously, if you haven’t been a victim of website hacking, chances are you could be in the future.
I wrote a post in January about my WordPress site being hacked before Christmas. It’s been an ongoing saga until a couple of weeks ago – I thought the problem had been sorted out until a second set of code was found and it’s all taken much longer to resolve than I initially thought – 2 months in all.
It wasn’t just the headache of having to find and remove two sets of malware code from my site, but what went with it. It’s quite fortunate that I don’t rely on my site to keep my business going. I get repeat work from existing clients and regular referrals so I’m not relying on enquiries through my site or selling products from e-commerce. If I did, this experience could have seen the end of my business – no joke!
The knock on effects of having a website hacked are:
- warnings in the search engines and internet browsers not to access your website
- loss of rankings to the point you may not even be found for your company name (yes, I’m still working on getting my rankings back!)
- hiring technical help for advice and to further secure your site
- contacting the search engines to ask for warnings to be removed from your website listings which can take several weeks
- loss of business and any financial effects from this
So, you do need to take your website security very seriously. Even if you don’t use WordPress or a similar content management system, hackers can get through web hosting companies too (it’s all automated, not someone randomly finding a site and trying to get in). My hosting company has just introduced ‘ftp locking’ so I have to ‘unlock’ my site if I want to make any changes to it. It’s worth contacting your hosting to ensure they’re taking measures against the growing numbers of hackers and malware being spread out there!
Sophos (web security specialists) recently published a report about cybercrime, malware and hacking in 2010 and is well worth reading if you want to know more on the subject, and I advise you do. The above link will take you to a pdf document you can download. It’s not just websites being hacked but malware being spread through social networks, and those of you on Twitter will know from experience that accounts are regularly being hacked with malicious messages spread to their network of followers.
If you’re unsure whether your site has been secured properly or want it checked over, then I would recommend Debbie Mahler, who has spent hours pouring through my site’s database and log files to resolve the problem. She can also tell you how to make sure you choose a password for your online accounts which will be difficult to break!
If Google can get hacked, so can your website!
About Sam
Sam McArthur is an internet marketing consultant with 12 years in the industry. She helps professional service businesses with their internet marketing strategy, helping them to see significant results from their online marketing activities, particularly within the search engines. She also consults on the latest internet tools, technology and best practice techniques.
Sam, thank you so much for the link and mention in your post!
I was very happy to help you and unfortunately the FTP locking by your web host only solves one of the problems you had with the hack. The other problem was cross-site scripting and that can’t be stopped by FTP locking.
Some of the changes we made should help keep your site locked down! And if there is something that comes up later, you will be the first to know! I keep all my current and former clients well informed!
Debbie Mahler
“The Technology Strategist”
Thanks so much for all your help, I’m feeling much happier that my site is much more secure than it was, and fingers crossed won’t get hacked again. It’s certainly been a huge learning curve and a real eye opener as to how these hackers get in!