Common Threats for Websites - Social Media Explorer
Common Threats for Websites
Common Threats for Websites
by

Successful websites generating revenue are the number one victims to common website threats. It may seem unlikely that all hard work can be lost in a heartbeat. However, it’s not a far-fetched scenario.

Cyberthreats are more severe than ever nowadays, which means that website owners face an endless list of threats to their online business. Here are the most common ones.

Ransomware

Ransomware is a rogue software preventing access to a website until the customers pay the ransom. Kaspersky Lab looked into this threat and concluded that once in 40 seconds, a business faces this issue. It leads to the website being taken offline or remaining disabled.

Besides the random cost, website downtime leads to substantial expenses. Ransomware also leads to lost sales, reduced productivity, damage to reputation, and blacklistings.

Negative SEO

Negative SEO rarely gets discussed, and its definition is broad and challenging to understand. 

In essence, it’s a malicious attempt taken against a website to harm their rankings. It may be a result of competitors trying to outrank a site or even an individual website owner with a vendetta.

It most often happens when competitors want to push out a website from the rankings for specific keywords. Launching a negative SEO campaign is difficult to accomplish, so it’s not very common. However, if it does happen, and it bears significant implications for a website.

Data Breaches

Data breaches are common and challenging to safeguard against. They can happen at any time – all it takes is rogue agents infiltrating a company application or server.

Most cases of data breaches concern private customer data. The goal of this threat is to obtain phone numbers, email addresses, even social security details. They get stolen and end up in the hands of criminals, who then use them to their advantage.

The result of data breaches is the compromising of user accounts. As a consequence, the reputation of the breached website is ruined, customer trust diminished, and more. The site may even end up destroyed, losing all its customers and its status in the rankings.

Phishing

Phishing is another risk business owners work under once they compile a lengthy list of customers. 

It’s the practice of using the reputation of real companies to trick people into revealing confidential, sometimes even sensitive, information. Phishers will do so by sending fake emails on the company’s behalf.

The emails will, of course, look legitimate, as if a real company sent it. They may ask for verification of a customer’s user name and password, or even social security numbers. Hackers will use this information to enter website systems or compromise user accounts.

The company’s mailing list, reputation, customer trust, and status end up ruined. Emails and text messages of this type are still the most common avenue for phishing. However, nowadays, there are more and more false social media accounts doing the same thing.

The Bottom Line

Online websites are the cornerstone of most successful businesses, but they are also their most vulnerable part. It’s not unimaginable to keep a site running safely, though, by planning for contingencies.

There are also simple practices that decrease the chances of suffering through these threats. As long as business owners stay proactive, keeping the website secure is entirely possible.

SME Paid Under

About the Author

David
David van der Ende is a full-time blogger and part-time graphic design enthusiast. He loves to write about a broad range of topics, but his professional background in both legal and finance drives him to write on these two subjects most frequently.

VIP Explorer’s Club

Categories

Archives