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Lately, more and more cases of cyber attacks and online hacking seem to be reaching the shores of New Zealand.
Following the stock exchange outages, unsuccessful attacks on RNZ and Stuff websites, and ransomware incidents involving companies Toll Group, Lion and the University of Auckland, businesses both large and small should take heed and run routine checks on their websites to ensure they are not leaving gaping holes for hackers to walk right in and wreak havoc.
Common types of cyber attacks
Here we will list the attacks that happen most prevalently today and a summary of the effect it has:
- DDoS Attack – Stops all people from visiting your website (including customers)
- Malware
Check out a LIVE view of the attacks happening around the world right now according to Kaspersky’s Real-Time Cyberthreat Map
It’s not just the big companies that are suffering…
Recently, a couple of clients had similar attacks on their websites, one an Accountant, the other a Builder. Their websites did not have any maintenance plans to keep them up to date with the latest security updates as they were released.
The result:
One client, had malicious links installed that were hidden and connected their site to a number of undesirable websites located in Turkey, while the other had Casino links installed and eventually, the site stopped working altogether.
The solution:
During the world we currently live in, it is more important than ever to keep our websites updated and secure.
This can be done by:
- Ensuring your websites (and any plugins) are running the latest versions available
- Installing and running website security software that can actively monitor your site and notify you of any issues as the arise.
- Backup regularily to an offsite location
Check with your website developer to see if they can help you with this extra protection for your site. Most reputable companies should provide you with a service offering to protect you.
How regularily should I backup to protect against online hacking?
A method to know how often you should backup is to think the following…
“if the site was destroyed today, when was my last backup, and how much has the site change from then until now.”
(If the site is updated daily, you may want to back it up daily)
Stay safe out there.
