Why is Website Security Important for Small Sites?
This is a question we get a lot. Actually, I guess the way we usually hear it is more like this...
My site is small.
I don't take credit cards online.
I don't store personal information on my site.
Hackers wouldn't be interested in my site so I don't really need an SSL, managed hosting, security plugins, etc.
What these companies fail to understand is that it's not actually about their site. We wrote up a super detailed post about this and it's a great place to start if you are wondering WHY a small business website would be the target of hackers.
The gist of it is that they're not looking to steal your data, they're looking to use your server resources and site:
- For complex calculations like Bitcoin
- To send spam messages
- To inject your site with links/images to other sites,
- Add undetectable malware to your site that will exploit vulnerabilities on your visitor’s computers from old web browsers, operating systems, and software like java and flash. Once exposed, your visitors could have their computers compromised with keyloggers, malware and ransomware.
Hackers don't care about what site or resource they are accessing. Forty-three percent of all data breaches in 2019 involved small and mid-size businesses, according to The Verizon 2019 Data Breach Investigations Report. The main reason is that smaller businesses are just easier to hack but still return a ton of value to the hacker. It's also important to note that Inc.com reports 60% of small businesses that are hacked go bankrupt within 6 months.
Yikes.
A hacked website also derails all of your marketing efforts. Having malicious code on your site will directly impact your search rankings. Google and other search engines crawl your site on a regular basis, if your site has been compromised, this will lead to Google flagging your domain (so will other 3rd party browser extensions like McAfee) and marking your site "unsafe" until you clean it up.
Cross Site Scripting, a type of hack, redirects your site to any other location specified by the hacker. When someone attempts to visit your site they'll be sent to another, unrelated site. Your visitors lose trust in you and may never give you a second chance.
The real kicker here is that most hacks and data breaches are totally preventable. Quite often, human error is the weak link in data security. Errors in the form of:
- Weak passwords or sharing passwords
- Response to phishing activity (clicking a link, opening an attachment)
- Not updating software
The good news here is that for website security, we've got you covered. Our managed hosting services ensure all updates are run and that no malware is on the site. If the site ever is hacked, our hack-free guarantee will restore the site back to it's pre-hacked state for free.
Concerned about your site's security? We can host all types of sites and often can move them to our hosting for free. Contact us today for more information.