Everyday, around 30,000 websites are hacked because of many reasons, one of them being, poor web security. To add to that, 5,40,000 websites are created worldwide, everyday. Now, imagine, out of these – 30,000 website’s security are breached every single day.

Are you concerned about your website being a part of this statistic? Then this article is for you. The fundamental way to protect your business from web security breaches is to know all about them. 

Additionally, you need to understand the potential consequences of not securing your business website when there is a breach, especially, if you’re thinking that your site won’t need any protection of sorts. 

According to Cyber Crime Magazine, 60% of small companies go out of business within the next six months of being hacked. Yes. While this is one of the many damaging consequences, the possibilities of being one of these companies is quite close when there’s inadequate web security.

Most Likely Types of WEB SECURITY threats

Malware

Malware is a type of web security threat that contains codes or softwares that are primarily developed by cyber attackers. Malicious software also known as Malware is a combination of different viruses, spyware, etc. These web security attacks can create extensive damage to the systems of the computer. 

A malware can be delivered to you in the form of a file or a link in an email. All it needs from you is a click on it which activates the malware action in the computer.

But don’t take it for granted that it could only be limited to the computer because it’s not. Since the world of technology has come a long way, hackers too have updated their ways of functioning. Now, these malicious softwares can be delivered via direct messaging, different social media, etc.

This attack includes trojan horses, worms, viruses, and computer worms as well. Currently there are more than 1 billion malware programs globally. To protect against such attacks, it’s important to follow two protocols – user vigilance, and protective tools.

When you come across a link that may say “check this out” or “you need to download this anti virus software now,” they play on two extreme emotions being temptation, and fear. Remember to always use genuine links, and if it’s sent by someone or something unknown, it’s best to ignore it.

On the other hand, get yourself a great protective software which will help keep your devices safe from these malware. 

Denial of Service (DoS)

Denial of Service or DoS web security attacks basically shut down a network or a machine. This is then not accessible to the end users. Here, a particular system is targeted. It overflows with requests until the number of incoming traffic cannot be processed which ultimately denies these processing requests to the end user. 

Hence this is called a “denial of service” web security attack. According to a survey undertaken, 13% of Cloudflare customers who were part of this study claimed they experienced a DoS attack or received a threat in advance.

Here’s how it happens. The attacker targets a service which is then overwhelmed with traffic as they direct a lot of users resulting in a denial of service to the legitimate users. 

Spyware

Just like the name suggests, Spyware is when there’s a threat in the form of files or software that’s downloaded onto the computer system. This web security breach secretly collects personal information like credit card information, different account login credentials, etc. without the user actually knowing.

That’s why it is referred to by this famous term, “Spyware.” In a similar manner, it can steal an organization’s information which is otherwise not accessible to all. It literally spies on your internet activity, and every move out there. 

Spyware web security breaches happen when they are automatically downloaded on to the computer without a prompt as such or could be part of any downloaded software or can even enter as a malware through messages, emails, etc. Spyware is part of the 79% increase in malware detection as per PurpleSec.

Trojan Horse

This web security breach has a lot to do with coding, and programs. This one is disguised to look like legitimate software that’s important for users to download. But the truth is, it’s not! Trojan Horse helps attackers gain access to an organization’s systems, and softwares.

Be on the lookout for the following – You’d receive mails that look trustworthy with a legitimate subject line. In the email, you’ll have a file or files attached. As soon as you click on the file, the security breach begins its work as it enters your computer system.

Trojan Horse web security attacks make up for 51.45% of all malware.

Worm

Worm is a web security breach that is more prone to organizations. It spreads literally like it’s name, a worm from one computer to another since it’s part of the larger organization, and interconnected.

Worm steals classified information from systems as it exploits the loopholes in the softwares. It also corrupts files, and installs a sort of inlet for remote access. This attack is estimated to have affected more than 200,000 computers in over 150 countries accounting for damage of hundreds of millions to billions of dollars. 

Damages from inadequate WEB SECURITY

The customers of your website are targeted

When you leave your website unattended or with inadequate web security, you also leave your customers, and traffic, at large, vulnerable in the hands of hackers. When your website gets hacked, the attackers use either of the above methods to breach into your web’s ineffective web security. 

They gather sensitive data, collect resources, etc., from the website. Attacks like Spyware, Worms, DoS, etc. can lead hackers to your potential customers who are your most prized possessions. How do they do that?

When they hack into your website, they use automated hacking tools to take over your website, and infect everything there. Automated hacking tools are mechanisms that are used by hackers which are tools, softwares, and frameworks, sometimes shared by other hackers.

So with one click on any unpredictable link, the malware reaches the computers of many others. And, by the look of it, it’s not great for the business nor the customers. 

Loss of revenue and business reputation

In today’s day, and age, it’s extremely important to focus on one thing when you’re launching a business platform – SEO.

Search Engine Optimization of your website not only gets you the appropriate customers you need to build your business but it also helps your website come under the search engine’s radar like that of Google, Mozilla Firefox, etc. which makes them suggest your website as the potential answer for a person’s search. 

In July 2018, Google enforced the “HTTPS” along with a lock symbol which signifies to the user that a website is safe. If it does not have an SSL certificate, the website would be deemed unsafe, and Google would notify the customers about the unsecured website. 

This prevents customers from directly coming in contact with attackers who can also gain access to their computer through the website if opened.

Additionally, due to their spam fighting efforts, Google AdSense had detected, and removed 80% of hacked websites from their platform. That’s how strict they are, and well, yes, they do mean business.

Ultimately with every such notification sent out to the users, the users then begin to distrust the business website, and avoid visiting it in the future keeping this in mind. Because of this, most businesses either close down or function at the most nominal level, and of course, it leads to loss of a lot of revenue.

Google blacklists your business website

If you thought that blacklists are limited to a TV show or to college attendance, think again! Here’s what a Google blacklist means – Google would suspect your website as suspicious, and quarantine it. So when a user visits the website, they can see this message, “This site may harm your computer.” 

It’s basically warning customers not to interact with your website for safety purposes. Though customers see this as something extremely helpful, it however comes at the cost of affecting your business.

When your website is on Google’s blacklist, you can be best assured, that the Search engine has removed your website from their list, and the website then loses all it’s organic traffic that usually tends to drive revenue.

Through such a detection, Google has identified that your website contains something that’s harmful for the customers. 

One way to deal with this problem is to clean up your website. Make sure the harmful content that is on the website is completely removed, and before you go live with your website again, ramp up your security measures so that these attacks don’t happen again.

This you can either do by yourself or get a service provider who would do this job for you.

Operational disruptions due to affected web security

When talking about web security, and data breach, the recovery of the data widely affects the operations of the business. Based on the severity of the attack, the affected business may have to spend a lot of time, and money into the recovery of data from the data breach that has occurred.

Businesses commonly shut off operations completely until they find a viable solution to the problem. When this is done, it gives time for investigators to find the source of the attack.  

Unfortunately, this also negatively affects business. The longer the operations are shut, the more likely customers are to leave, and rather find what they’re looking for elsewhere.

As specified earlier, not many small businesses make it out all well once there’s been a data breach. Most of them tend to shut down in the next 6 months of the attack.

Legalities of dealing with breached web security

Going to court is never fun but it’s a serious nightmare when you already have other problems to deal with related to the web security attack. However, whether or not you like it, this may be an outcome sooner than later.

Most businesses ask for personal information which is then breached because of inadequate web security measures resulting from cyber attacks. Due to this, this may even lead to a court case.

Some of such well known court cases are Target, Home Depot, and Epic Games. Counting this in with the fees for the lawyers, and other legal processes, businesses tend to lose in millions with these court cases.

To add to this, businesses may also limit their operations or shut down their operations completely until the case is fully solved. This leads to a further loss of business. 

Conclusion on WEB SECURITY

It’s extremely important to get your business website fortified with proper web security measures so that you may not be one of those business that ends up with more losses than profits. 

Additionally, with good web security, you’ll be avoiding the likelihood of all these potential dangers, and damages to your business, investments, and most of all have your customer’s trust all intact. 

While there are a variety of ways in which these cyber attacks can be carried out, and even the way they function may vary as per the type of attack, the damages are quite the same for all of them. 

These damages can also be interrelated, and can also work as a chain reaction since the main aspect of business i.e the customers are affected. 

The best way to rid yourself of these hassles is to opt for a strong security system, and update your softwares often when there are any changes. Also, don’t shy away from upgrading your web security every now, and then. 

The more your website is safe, the more likely that you are displayed as a suggestion by Google to the customers who are in search for similar products or services.  So what have you decided to do? Wait or ramp up the security features of your website at the earliest possible?

And, have you faced any sort of a data or a security breach in the past? What was your experience, and how did you overcome it?