When I discover a hacked website, one common question that comes up when contacting the business owner to inform them is “how does this hack actually affect my bottom line“?
Most people don’t realize the potential severity of their small-business website being breached. The resulting issues can escalate really quick.
1.) Your web visitors will be at risk
Some of the similar hacked pages I’ve found on other sites automatically launch adult-related popups and redirect to malware and virus related websites. That’s bad news for you and even more bad news for your visitors.
2.) Your Google ranking will drop
If your ranking in Google search results is important for your business, this hack will cause issues with Google because your website is voluntarily linking out to suspicious websites as a result of the hack. From Google’s perspective, your website is becoming a spam-distributing website so you will be discredited and moved down the list of search results. That is – if they don’t remove your website from their search results completely.
3.) Your web host can kill your website today
When a web host identifies a website that is hosting hacked files on one of their servers, they typically shut the website down. Then they contact the owner to get things cleaned up. Once the cleanup is verified, the web host will turn the website back on.
Every day that passes with hacked content on your website puts you one day closer to having your website shut down.
4.) It just looks bad
Imagine a visitor landing on your web page and experiencing a high-spam interaction. You already only have a few seconds to captivate your users before they hit “back” and move on to your competition. Spammy content on your website immediately discredits your business and turns potential customers away – fast.
5.) And here’s the doozy: your email and other online bank accounts may be compromised, too
Depending on the severity of this hack or how “deep” within your web server the hacker reached, they may have access to your email account. That means they can read emails coming in, and send spam emails out of your inbox, all while using your name and email.
They can easily access other logins like paypal or bank logins using the “password reset” option because those get sent to your email address directly. From there, they simply reset the password, log in, then transfer cash out directly.
Hackers with email access can also search any old emails you’ve kept to uncover other passwords and sensitive information such as addresses, tax information, bank numbers, and social security numbers. They can even collect the emails addresses of your contacts and attempt to bribe you to pay them a ransom fee to prevent them from approaching your existing contacts with statements of defamation.
A hacker with access to your email can reak havoc on your life, and on your business.
About the Author
Shane Gramling helps small businesses get more customers.
Get fresh ideas on how you can grow your business today: Click here to book a free strategy call with Shane.
15+ Yrs. Experience | Proven Systems | Killer Websites
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