Vulcan Wire Bounces Back From Cyberattack With SiteLock Solutions

Founded in 1975, Vulcan Wire is a leading U.S.-based manufacturer and distributor specializing in baling wire and cargo securement products. All of Vulcan Wire’s manufacturing takes place in the company’s main warehouse in Hayward, California, and the company is committed to providing the best in product selection, expertise, and distribution services in the U.S. steel industry. Vulcan Wire launched its website in 2009 to expand marketing efforts, showcase product offerings and establish an initial point of contact for prospective customers.

The Challenge

Vulcan Wire’s website, www.vulcanwire.com, plays a significant role in the company’s sales process by attracting more prospects and increasing the number of online sales inquiries per month. That’s why sales and marketing manager, Kenji Rodriguez, was deeply concerned when Vulcan Wire started receiving an influx of spam messages through the website’s online contact forms. Initially, the spam was dismissed as a nuisance. However, as time went on, the website’s appearance altered, and the site language randomly changed from English to French across many pages. Worst of all, prospects no longer completed online sales inquiries through the website, causing the company to miss out on countless new business and sales.

The situation persisted for five months, causing Vulcan Wire to lose more than $50,000 dollars in sales. Eventually, Google blacklisted Vulcan Wire’s site. Visitors and potential customers searching for the Vulcan Wire website were suddenly issued a warning stating, “This Site Might Be Hacked,” further deterring site traffic. As a result, Vulcan Wire’s hosting provider suspended the website and advised them to call SiteLock.

Kenji quickly contacted SiteLock, who quickly diagnosed the problem. Vulcan Wire’s WordPress site hadn’t been updated regularly, which led to a site compromise through exploiting open vulnerabilities. “SiteLock was very responsive,” Kenji says. “Every time we called to get information on correcting the security issues, there was always someone available to talk to. They were incredibly helpful and very knowledgeable.”

The Resolution

Kenji worked with a SiteLock Website Security Consultant to find the right solution for Vulcan Wire and prevent a future compromise. After careful consideration, SiteLock® INFINITY™ was selected to protect Vulcan Wire’s website from cyberthreats. INFINITY™ runs continuous security scans to analyze websites for vulnerabilities and malware. When threats are identified, they are removed immediately, and the next scan begins. As an additional security measure, Kenji also selected SiteLock® TrueShield™ WAF (web application firewall) to keep Vulcan Wire’s website safe from malicious bots and targeted cyberattacks. Both solutions were implemented quickly and easily by the SiteLock team.

“Within one week of calling SiteLock, everything was cleaned,” Kenji says. “Throughout the process, SiteLock checked in regularly to assure me that things were moving forward. Their customer service is great, and the team worked quickly. SiteLock truly had our best interests in mind.”

SiteLock® INFINITY™ scans over 54,500 website pages and 71,200 website files for malware on vulcanwire.com each month. Since adopting INFINITY™, no more malware has been detected on the site. In addition, SiteLock® TrueShield™ WAF blocks an incredible 1,000 bots from the site every day. On top of 24/7 website protection and tracking, Kenji receives alerts if any suspicious activity is detected. What’s more, using the SiteLock customer Dashboard, Kenji can review weekly security performance reports and ensure that his SiteLock products are working properly.

Although Vulcan Wire’s website compromise set the business back 6 months, the company quickly regained its momentum with the help of SiteLock. When asked what advice he has for other website owners, Kenji says, “Website security is an absolute must. It should be number one on the list before deciding to build your website, especially for a business. I highly recommend SiteLock for its first-rate customer service that gets things done and gives you exactly what you need.”

SiteLock offers a suite of comprehensive and affordable website security solutions to ensure your website is protected from cyberattacks. For more SiteLock case studies, visit sitelock.com/reviews. You can also read other SiteLock customer reviews on Consumer Affairs and TrustPilot.