What goal do cybercriminals pursue with hacker attacks?
One thing (almost) all websites have in common: they exchange data with visitors. This is extremely valuable for cybercriminals. They can resell the information at a high price and/or use it themselves for phishing attempts and other illegal activities.
What many people don’t know: Not every hacker attack is backed by a real person acting in real time. Nowadays, it’s mostly bots that do the job. They work at any time of day or night, from anywhere in the world. The number of attempted attacks per website is correspondingly high.
The following goals are often behind hacker attacks:
- intercept credit card data and other payment information of users
- collect personal data such as addresses, names and email addresses
- install ransomware or malware on the website
- gain access to the server to use it for illegal purposes
To protect users’ data and their own information from illegal access, website operators should take protective measures at an early stage. An experienced online marketing agency like ONELINE can help with the selection and setup.
5 tips for effective protection against hacker attacks in online marketing
A single person with a hoodie on his head sitting in front of a screen in a dark room? Cybercriminals haven’t worked like that for a long time. Hackers have adapted to the times and are countering the increasing number of websites with powerful bots. These effortlessly detect security gaps and are able to use them as a completely automated point of attack.
The following tips help to better protect a website against cybercrime. They are applicable to any type of website – whether blog, online store or community portal.
1. Installation of protective plugins
The increasing number of hacker attacks has one advantage – the offer of protective software is constantly growing. Meanwhile, there are numerous plugins that contribute to the security of a website.
If the site is based on a content management system (CMS) like WordPress, the range of security tools is particularly large. Here are some examples:
- Wordfence Security
- Sucuri Security
- iThemes Security
2. Regular security updates of the CMS, plugins and theme
Outdated software is a boon for hackers. It offers many loopholes through which cybercriminals can infiltrate malicious programs. Regular updates are therefore essential for a well-protected website.
It is crucial to update all areas of the site at appropriate intervals. This includes not only the installed tools, but also the CMS as a whole and the theme. This way, the protection of the website remains high despite increasingly sophisticated hacking attempts.
Important: It makes sense to delete unused plugins and themes. They can be an additional security risk for the website.
3. Apply Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to the website
A reliable security protocol is indispensable for online stores, as addresses, payment information and other sensitive information is exchanged here. The so-called Secure Sockets Layer ensures secure data transmission.
SSL encrypts passwords and other information that a visitor enters on the website. Many Internet users are now aware of this. Good encryption thus not only protects against hacker attacks, but also serves as a confidence-building measure towards (potential) customers.
4. Set a strong password for login
It is not always third parties who are targeted by a hacker attack. The data of website operators can also be targeted by cybercriminals. Especially the login data for the administrator dashboard are interesting for hackers.
The password for your website should be long and consist of numbers, letters and special characters. If it is difficult to crack, hackers – or their bots – often refrain from further attempts.
5. Perform backups for data protection
For websites with a lot of content, a hacker attack is problematic. For security reasons, the hacked page can no longer go online even after it has been cleaned up. In this case, you are well advised to restore an older version of the page.
Backups protect against data loss in the event of a hacker attack. To what extent and at what intervals the backups should be made depends on the website. A professional online marketing agency can give an individual recommendation on this.
How website operators should respond to a hacker attack
The aforementioned tips provide a high level of protection against unwanted page access by hackers. However, even the best security concept is not infallible, because cybercriminals are continuously developing their methods.
If the website has been hacked, fast action is required. Basically, the action plan consists of three steps: disable the site, inform the web host, find the security hole and close it.
Identifying and fixing the vulnerability is possible with special tools and/or professional help. Depending on the type of vulnerability, it makes sense to extend the protective measures for the website from now on.
Protect website from hackers – how an online marketing agency can help
A hacker attack on your own website is more than just a nuisance. If cybercriminals or their bots access user data, this is particularly dangerous for online stores and other websites with payment functions.
In the worst case, visitors lose trust in the website and stay away even after the problem has been fixed. This makes it all the more important to implement effective protective measures against hackers right from the start.
When designing an effective security concept, ONELINE can be a helpful support. As a professional online marketing agency, it takes care of selecting, setting up and updating powerful security tools for the websites of interested partners.
