I just saw another html website hack this last week. We all know that WordPress websites and blogs can be hacked, and can actually be targets for spammers and porn spammers. But did you know that regular websites using html can be hacked too?
If you are not watching and monitoring your site proactively, your website can be a target for hackers too. On top of that think about the potential website traffic and loss of reputation for your business when you leave a hacked site uncorrected. for a long period of time.
Website Hacked This Past Week
A customer came to me for website updates this past week. His site had not been updated since 2014. Before starting his updates this is what I found:
- Weird php files were interspersed in his site files.
- On the server a hidden folder was installed.
- Self propagating files were embedded in his page code.
The key is that the site had been compromised in September 2015 (based on the file date stamp). Google had marked the site as containing malware in their index, but the client had not been watching. Over a year later I found that the site had been hacked.
The take away on this is that all website owners should register with the Google Search Console. At least this way if malware is found by Google on your website, Google will email you a note so you can take action.
Better yet is to hire a webmaster to do a monthly or quarterly review of the website to assure you are safe and not helping spammer and sellers of porn to sell their wares.