MailGuard Editor 24 January 2015 00:43:00 AEDT 3 MIN READ

Hit Back At Hackers - Take Proactive Steps To Protect Your Online Web Brand Reputation... Now!

Another news day and businesses and government organisations, both large and small are feeling the devastating effects of cyber hacking. 

Hacker targetAccording to research by Ponemon Institute, 43% of companies reported security breaches in 2014 which is up from 33% in 2013. While the threat is very real and evidently growing, businesses and government organisations must be proactive when it comes to their data security and privacy.

Here is what we know. By hacking into websites, cybercriminals are able to steal critical information such as names, phone numbers, email addresses, business transactions and more. Cyber criminals use or steal this confidential data for fraudulent financial gain including selling the data to third parties, identity theft, launching further attacks, sabotage and espionage.

Not all compromises are immediately obvious and your website could be distributing malware without your knowledge. Cyber compromises such as the ones mentioned above can affect your business and your clients by causing extensive financial and credibility damage to your brand’s reputation. When businesses are ill prepared for such an attack, they are left red-faced and scrambling around in damage control mode - many surprised that they were a target in the first place.

While you may only hear reports about serious attacks on well-known brand organisations such as Sony, smaller businesses are often the targets of cyber criminals because they are less likely to defend themselves against attacks, or to maintain secure systems. In this instance, while private data may not be the main prize, they can take control of your server for reasons such as furthering attacks, sending out spam from your company domain name and hosting malware.

The best way to hit hackers where it hurts is to be proactive, proactive, proactive. Who is responsible for safeguarding your company website? Marketing? IT? CEO? CFO? GM? The one person or group responsible for the companies brand/reputation - "Brand Guardian". So how could this safeguarding be done effectively? Short answer... One way is to implement a monitoring and reporting tool that will scan and monitor the business website for hacked pages, potential malware (malicious software) and security risks such as phishing links - reporting back to the Brand guardian about any suspicious activity.

A tool such as WebPure website monitoring developed by MailGuard will do just this - continuously monitoring your website to ensure optimal security and usability for your customers.

WebPure works by giving advanced warning so that you can take any immediate action needed that will lessen the harm to your business website while also protecting your customer's data. WebPure also has the added benefit of informing you if your website is missing pages or has broken links which can affect your SEO.

WebPure is a fully automated website monitoring service that takes the hassle and cost out of analysing a business website for malware, foreign content and broken links. Very few companies provide this proven kind of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) solution that targets the customer-facing risks within a website. Until a major compromise occurs, this is often a particular area of website security which tends to fall through the cracks.

With the reporting of capability of WebPure on your side, this will empower and enable your business to respond to any threat in a timely manner. You can then take proactive steps to protect your business and your brand, making life much easier for your technical and marketing departments. When implementing online security tools such as WebPure, MailGuard email filtering and WebGuard web filtering, businesses take on a multi-layered approach to online security which in the long-term increases their online security by covering the business from multiple angles.

MailGuard are true innovators with products designed to address the ever-growing online security and privacy concerns of business and government clients around the world. You shouldn't have to become another statistic. Choosing the right security options for your business will ensure the safe use of your website for a long time to come.

By securing your company website, you will also go further to protect your business and brand. Find out more about WebPure website monitoring today or to discuss your email and web security please email expert@mailguard.com.au.