Moving into the 21st century was good in many ways. We saw a rise in the global economy and private enterprise. And the most defining moment was the industries moving to online platforms (along with their terabytes of data) to conduct business.
Having said that, we also entered the century where global terrorism rose beyond imagination, coronavirus completely wrecking the world’s progress and cyber attacks. As we mentioned before, the terabytes of data that the businesses brought along became the target of the notorious minds.
Did you know that malware is one of the most threatening pathways of cyber attacks? One in every 13 web requests results in malware. Even if that data leaves you unfazed, the following data might make you think otherwise. When it comes to reviving the company back to its normal routine after a malware attack, the average cost required is around $2 million.
Can’t afford to lose such a hefty price? Is that all? Unfortunately, no! Keep scrolling through, and you’ll find more about the consequences of a malware attack.
How a Malware Attack Affects Your Online Business?
What’s the way to gain traction when conducting a business online? Websites. Right? Although the number is decreasing, still, if you go by the data shared by Google in January 2021, 600-800 websites are infected with malware per week.
And in an attempt to serve its customers, Google or other search engines clean up such problems, which results in losing the website rankings and reputation eventually. And again, the damage does not stop here!
If your business website gets infected with malware, it will put your status on the line in terms of the credibility of the content published by you. So, eventually, the customers will lose interest in your brand. And in extreme cases, you might even lose access to your website. That means losing confidential information.
No customer would be happy about such a breach of privacy. So, how to recover your website from a malware attack to keep your business in a running mode. Let’s find out now!
Recovering Website After a Malware Attack
The first step to never fall into the trap of yet another malware attack is identifying the problems before. To do that, use the following steps.
- Use site: search operator to review all the pages that are available on Google. With this, you’ll easily find the pages associated with your website. Doing so will help you find even the unknown pages you are not familiar with or the topics you didn’t publish. This will enable you to remove the spammed pages or links timely.
- You can also check the Security Issues report to see if Google has identified any hacked pages on your website. Always check the messages forwarded to the linked email account.
Once you are through with the cleaning process, the next step is to recover the reputation. Here’s how to do it!
- Firstly make sure that your site no longer hosts malware. Other than that, look for any spammy content and if there is still something suspicious, redo the process mentioned above.
- Add your site to the Google search console and ask the search engine itself to run a check on your website.
But what about the owners with access to the server?
- You must check the server configuration and read through some tips on directory permissions, server-side security.
- Make a backup of your data, right from the development data to design elements and content. However, if you used that infected site on your Mac and downloaded some files without knowing about the malware. It’s time you give your system also a health check.
Not only will you get a faster mac, but you’ll also prevent your system from being the reason to cause a malware attack on your site. You can use tools like CleanMyMac X to detect such covert agents on your Mac.
- Make sure to install the latest software and patches to minimize the risk of being exploited. Also, keep a habit of browsing through log files to see if the site is in perfect condition.
- Keep checking the website for any vulnerabilities. And make sure to use secure protocols.
What else?
Well! You must install web application firewalls to prevent such threats from coming back. Such applications check the traffic based on where it’s coming from, their action, and the information they are looking for. Based on that, they designate legitimate and malicious traffic. Such applications provide round-the-clock protection.
Also, disable the file uploads on your website. This will help you avoid those images or data infected with malware scripts. Lastly, make sure to protect your website with strong encryption or passwords. This will enable you to shield your website against the website attack.
Wrapping up
Businesses are thriving with the world moving towards online platforms searching for services, products, and whatnot. But at the same time, the hackers are growing too. Did you know that more than 1 million new malware strains are created every day? Even a single infection in your website can be blacklisted by Google. That’s how vulnerable the online world is in today’s time.
Unfortunately, it’s the SMEs or small or middle-sized enterprises that are the target of these cyber attacks. But the bad news is that more than 50% of the owners think they won’t get attacked.
But don’t let that thought suffer your business from the damages of a malware attack. That could go up to $50k per attack. Can you afford such a large sum when you are still growing or making your place in the marketplace?
Let’s not forget companies need to prevent malware attack to:
- Protect your confidential information or your business workflows.
- Keep the trust of your customers, stakeholders, and shareholders.
- Prevent your company from paying losses when you can use it to build it.
So, is your online business protected against malware attacks? If not, you need to find the solutions right away.
Remember, you might wait. The hackers won’t! So, keep your business protected from all kinds of attacks and grow exponentially.
