Website defacement is actually rare compared to infection by malware, but it is a favored tactic of some hackers.
Some hackers aren’t merely content with getting information or even crippling a targeted site they deface a page (and drive away your customers) by placing a header or image that declares something like “This site has been hacked by the Goon Squad!” Except that all the information you enter goes straight to a hacker’s personal files. Often this will be a very good copy of a legitimate site you might deal with, such as a bank or Paypal, which they’ve identified from your web activity.
Redirects – a piece of code that sends visitors from your links to a page on a hacker site that tricks people into downloading malicious files.WordPress uses a single MySQL database that contains all the settings and information needed to administer your site. Database injections are a common threat where text sprinkled through various records can be reassembled by a simple query into malicious commands.
The download might be masquerading as some useful utility, or covertly bundled with another legitimate program. Drive-by download – scripts that download malicious files to a users computer, generally without their even being aware of it.Pharma hacks, which inject spam into files or databases.The standard tactic of most hackers is the easiest – infecting your site with malware.
You wouldn’t leave your car key in the ignition, but if you have a site with a dated WordPress version and generic settings, you might as well include tags that say “hacker friendly”.Įvery WordPress site owner should take measures toward improving WordPress security. This is simply because WordPress is the most popular online content management system and its inner workings are well known to hackers. WordPress sites are a frequent target of spammers, hackers, and malicious software. In this article I’ll show you some different ways to scan your website for malware. With millions of websites and different types of sophisticated malware out there, cyber crime is becoming more common than car theft.