The sum of the web parts is a security hole

First Google gets hacked by the Chinese.

Then the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

And now, wait for it….  the Stroud District Business Club - everybody’s a target for hackers. That includes you. And us.

Why is it happening?

Because security holes are invitations. Think of your website and the server on which it’s hosted as a fort. If it’s undefended, it will get attacked. Buy cheap hosting without support and you’re leaving your fort undefended.

Organisations are using different types of software from different sources and they put them on their servers and on the web. Some of the software may be open source which means that lots of people will have access to it and be familiar with its weaknesses - the dark side of open source. Conversely it could be Microsoft which is closed but full of security holes. Organisations have little or no experience of how these systems expose them to vulnerabilities - remember, this is mostly new stuff and it hasn’t been knitted together before.

Does the software come with a security guarantee? Does the industry work to international standards? Are software companies liable for security lapses?

Can the hackers believe their luck?!!

So what’s the solution?

We speak only for websites and for web hosting. One way is to make sure that your site’s built by developers who’ve developed their own software and have tested it for security.  Short term, it will probably cost you more but long term, it’s likely to be a bargain. And guess what, if you pay peanuts for your web hosting, the fort’s probably undefended.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Hosting, Marketing Services. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.