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Cybersecurity is all about keeping your network, websites and data safe from hackers and criminals who would like nothing more than to get into your system and steal your customers’ data. It’s not just the big, household name websites which need to think about how secure their website is. Cybersecurity – or lack of it – is one of the main factors which Google and other search engines consider when ranking your website on results pages. As a website rises up the search engine rankings, its profile rises and more visitors are attracted to the site. Unfortunately, this can also make the site more of a target for hackers.

Consequences of Hacking

If you’ve taken your eye off the ball in terms of cybersecurity, then you might experience a range of results such as a user being unable to access your website at all, or being redirected to an entirely unrelated website. Perhaps more concerningly, the website may operate as usual, but be infected by malicious code which steals users’ data or spreads to their own devices.

Penalties for Security Breaches

Any website which has been attacked by hackers is not safe for visitors. Many antivirus programs will show a pop-up warning that a site has been hacked, and users will simply click away from your site and onto a competitor’s. The main search engines such as Bing and Google will also penalise sites which have a poor security record – they don’t want to take the blame for directing their users to a site where they have their details phished.

Content Changes

Sometimes hackers are more subtle. There is the phenomenon of SEO-hackers, people who hack into your website with the sole purpose of destroying your SEO ranking on Google. They might create covert web pages, change the content of pages, add or delete outbound links or mess with the structure of the site. They might also submit hundreds of negative reviews about your company.  These modifications can seriously damage the trustworthiness of your site, and can result in a plunge down the rankings.

Prevention is Better Than Cure

It’s always easier to try to prevent a security breach than deal with an attack once it has happened. There are lots of steps that businesses of all sizes can take to try to pre-empt any security issues. These include:

• Regular audit – audit your site regularly looking for loopholes or weak points in any software or hardware you are using. There is special vulnerability scanning software which can help with this. Act promptly on any issues uncovered.
• SSL certificate – this security certificate is recognised as the gold standard in security by Google and if your website doesn’t have it, the ranking will be lower. Sites with a SSL certificate have a padlock symbol in the address bar, reassuring users that they are secure. This is especially important if you are running an e-commerce site taking payments from customers online.
• Other measures – passwords should be strong and changed on a regular basis, companies need an automated process for backing up their website daily or weekly, and a strong firewall should help keep out unwanted visitors.