The SiteLock Blog

Much like graffiti in the physical world, website defacement attacks can leave a visible mark on your digital property. In carrying out this type of attack, cybercriminals typically replace existing content on your site with their own messages — whether those messages are intended to be political, religious, or simply shocking.

As a small business owner, you know that your website is a critical component of your business. It provides prospective customers with first impressions of your company and may even serve as a digital storefront. A defacement attack that makes visitors turn around and leave could have lasting consequences on your business.

How Small Businesses Can Determine Website Security Risk

By Monique Becenti

On September 17, 2019

In SiteLock Research

Cybercrime’s unprecedented reach means that virtually every website is “at risk.” But how can you gauge your site’s risk level?

The SiteLock Risk Assessment is a predictive model that examines 500 variables to determine cybersecurity risks. It leverages the SiteLock threat database, which is built from more than 12 million protected sites. The variables fall into three key categories: complexity, composition, and popularity. Each category is rated as either high, medium, or low risk. According to our research, sites with a higher risk are 12 times more likely to be exploited than those with low risk.

How to Avoid Being Blacklisted by Search Engines

By Monique Becenti

On September 6, 2019

In Malware, Small Business

Have you ever visited a website — only to be greeted by an alarming red screen that reads: “The site ahead contains malware”? That’s quite the deterrent, and chances are, you left the page in a hurry. That’s what happens when Google and other search engines blacklist a website.

Blacklisting websites is how search engines protect browsers from malicious content. Google and other search engines send bots to scan websites and flag anything suspicious. If your website is deemed a threat, then it’s removed from the search engine’s results page. And for small businesses that rely on their websites to capture and convert leads, this can have serious consequences.

What It Means to Be Blacklisted

Best Practices for Using a VPN While Traveling

By Monique Becenti

On September 3, 2019

In VPN

Who doesn’t love free Wi-Fi? It allows you the flexibility to work from a coffeehouse or hotel room the same way you would from your office or home. Public Wi-Fi networks are convenient, allowing you to stay connected no matter where you are. But they’re also convenient for cybercriminals, as your personal data is less secure when you’re browsing on a public network.

How to Protect Your Small Business Against a Cyber Attack

By Monique Becenti

On August 28, 2019

In Cyber Attacks, Small Business

Don’t expect alarms to go off when cybercriminals launch an attack. In fact, it’s just the opposite. What do cybercriminals want? Mostly to remain invisible. That’s why they make every effort to fly under the radar — and why attacks can go unnoticed for months or even years.

Take a recent cyber attack on Florida healthcare provider AdventHealth. The attack was discovered in February 2019 — a full year after cybercriminals gained access. Attackers used that lengthy window to steal the personal records of 50,000 patients and cover up the evidence of their crime.

5 Steps to Building a Foolproof Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan

By Monique Becenti

On August 26, 2019

In Data Breach, SiteLock News

No matter what industry you’re in, there’s a good chance that you conduct a lot of your business online. Most modern small businesses have one or more digital properties, including a website and various social media pages. Your website may or may not be your chief sales portal, but it’s usually the first place prospective customers go to learn about your brand, making it a vital asset.

Spyware in the IoT – the Biggest Privacy Threat This Year

By SiteLock

On August 23, 2019

In SiteLock News

Technology. It’s designed to make our homes more comfortable and workplaces more efficient.

But, every advancement towards realizing a 21st century quality of life comes with a wave of security threats, old and new. The consequences of which are not only born by companies who are the primary targets of cybercrime. Your home systems are more vulnerable than you think.

What Is a Web Application Firewall — and Will It Protect My Small Business?

By Monique Becenti

On August 20, 2019

In Cyber Attacks, Firewalls

A web application firewall — also known as a WAF — is basically a website’s gatekeeper. Once installed, it monitors all incoming traffic to determine whether website visitors are legitimate or malicious. It then denies access to suspicious traffic, blocking out nefarious players.

You may think that your small business’s website doesn’t receive enough traffic to necessitate a gatekeeper, but consider this: More than 60% of all internet traffic is made up of bots. Of course, not all bots are dangerous; some serve a positive purpose, such as search engine crawling. But many pose a significant threat to your website and its visitors. These bad bots visit websites for negative purposes — crawling a site’s code in search of security vulnerabilities, for instance.

By SiteLock

On August 15, 2019

In Joomla! News, SiteLock Research

Joomla! released version 3.9.11 on August 13, 2019, to patch vulnerabilities found within versions 1.6.2 and 3.9.10. This latest security update fixes a vulnerability that allows for mail submission in disabled forms.

Prior to this patch, it was possible for anyone to submit a mail submission to a form even if it was disabled. Com_contact is activated by default in Joomla! installations. This means any user running Joomla! versions 1.6.2-3.9.10 are affected by this vulnerability. With no contacts established or the functionality is disabled, the plugin should not have the ability to send an email, however, with this particular vulnerability it can still send spam emails.

Content Delivery Network Security Best Practices

By Monique Becenti

On August 12, 2019

In Cyber Attacks, Firewalls

Despite what your lightning-fast Wi-Fi connection may indicate, the internet is not instantaneous. When someone visits your website, it takes time for content such as text, pictures, and videos to travel from the point of origin to wherever the website’s visitor is located. The further apart the two points are, the longer it takes for the content to be delivered.

Content delivery networks exist to expedite this process. Imagine your business is based in Boston and someone visits your website from San Francisco. If the content had to travel completely across the country, the website load time would be extremely long. CDNs improve this process by storing content on servers located throughout the country in data centers called “points of presence.”

Page 2 of 68

A Guide to Website Defacement Prevention

How Small Businesses Can Determine Website Security Risk

How to Avoid Being Blacklisted by Search Engines

Best Practices for Using a VPN While Traveling

How to Protect Your Small Business Against a Cyber Attack

5 Steps to Building a Foolproof Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan

Spyware in the IoT – the Biggest Privacy Threat This Year

What Is a Web Application Firewall — and Will It Protect My Small Business?

SiteLock© INFINITY™ Patches the Joomla! Contact Form Vulnerability

Content Delivery Network Security Best Practices

Categories

Archives

SiteLock Blog Topics

Quick Links