If you or your business have a website, it’s prone to malware attacks, no matter how big or small an enterprise it represents. In fact, 37% of global organizations fell victim to ransomware attacks in 2021, and 14 of the 16 U.S. critical infrastructure sectors (such as government facilities and information technology sectors) were hit, too.
Even a simple website can have hundreds, if not thousands, of vulnerabilities that offer attack opportunities to cybercriminals. The situation worsens as the complexities of the website increase. So, if your website handles transactions, consumer data, or sensitive information, the risk rises exponentially.
The Real Dangers of Malware
There are many different types of malware out there, and these threats keep evolving. As you read this article, there are likely dozens of new pieces of malicious software being released into the virtual space. Malware can be designed to fulfill different goals, like collecting personal information, credit card details, or logins and sending them to a nefarious third party.
Malicious software can harm your website, business, and online reputation. Having a website down due to malware is usually very costly. Not only because of a loss in revenue but also the loss of potential and current customers who will perceive your website as unsafe. This affects your reputation, both amongst your customers and with search engines.
Once malware is detected on your website, search engines will blacklist it and warn users either through a security alert or by blocking the website entirely. This will significantly negatively impact your SEO efforts and will show very clearly in the website’s performance. Finally, malware exposes you to loss of business and customers’ data, enduring serious financial, legal, and reputational consequences.
As the number of cyber incidents continues to grow year after year — the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center saw a 69% increase in complaints related to all types of internet crime in 2020 compared to 2019 — it’s obvious that every website owner needs to implement robust, automatic and reliable systems of protection.
Damage Prevention Through Malware Detection
Since malware usually works by inserting a piece of malicious code into your website’s source code, it can be difficult to detect without analyzing the code line by line. This is where an automatic website malware checker comes into play.
A website malware scan analyzes all the content on your website and alerts you immediately if it finds any suspicious or malicious code, allowing you to take appropriate action. With a robust website malware scanner, malicious software is instantly removed from websites and from the publicly visible source code, protecting your website from being blacklisted.
Additional tools to scan your website for malware can help bulletproof your website. It can identify potential vulnerabilities that hackers can abuse or verify SSL security certificates that signal to the user that your website is safe to use.
Secure Your Website and Your Peace of Mind
The most effective website protection is early detection. Of course, it’s virtually impossible to prevent malware from infecting your website, knowing how quickly new types of malicious software are being released. Therefore, conducting a frequent and automatic website security scan will ensure that any malware that does show up on your website is registered and then removed as quickly as possible.