Running a website can have security risks

Owning a website brings many benefits to a business, and without one nowadays, you could find it difficult for your business to thrive. With the good, comes the bad, unfortunately, and this means that having a website also leaves you vulnerable to security risks. What are these exactly?

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Hacker attacks

A hacker may choose to attack your website in what is known as a distributed denial of service attack, or DDOS. According to Byte Start this is where a hacker gains illegal control of many computers and floods your server with information requests. The server is unable to cope and stops working, temporarily making your site disappear.

Changing the content

If a hacker breaks into your server and gets control of your website, they may be able to change or replace the content. They might change product information and prices, or add offensive or pornographic material, for instance. Aside from being extremely embarrassing for your business, this can result in untold damage, which may end up tarnishing your good reputation.

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Stealing information

Theft of information online is one of the greatest security threats currently, and if a hacker gains access to your company network, this is a risk you need to be very cautious of. Hackers may steal personal information about customers, including their names and addresses, credit card details and other sensitive information.  In this case it is always best to get a Gloucester Solicitor involved because fraud will probably end up in court so look at sites like deeandgriffin.co.uk to get the best one for you.
Once this happens, it’s very difficult to regain the trust of your customers, and it can cause long-term damage to your reputation. It some cases, it may even result in financial ruin that leads to a company collapsing.

For this reason alone, making sure you have robust security measures in place is essential.
Bear in mind that it’s not just big brands that are open to attack; a hacker will be happy to bring down the website of any company, whatever its size, if it shows weaknesses in its security features. In fact, new websites are prime targets for hackers, so don’t assume that just because your business is small fry, this doesn’t mean that unscrupulous types will overlook it for the bigger boys out there.