At this moment, there are 644 million active websites on the internet. This includes everything from Fortune 500 e-commerce sites to a blogger’s first post. While it makes sense for a multi-million dollar company’s website to get hacked, it can seem strange that anyone would go after a small site. Many small website administrators have the same question, “ Why was my website hacked? ” Let’s look at what hackers really want.
Computing Power and Anonymity
Why was my website hacked? Possibly for computing power and anonymity. The typical hacker is most likely not interested in your website itself, but rather power from the server your website runs on. Hackers are constantly working with intricate computations that take an exceptional amount of energy to power. They use these computations to ‘mine’ digital currencies such as Bitcoin.
Another reason hackers could decide to target your website is for anonymity. When a hacker uses your server, it is not linked to their name. This means they are able to carry out tasks without a trace of their identity. These resources are what make basically any and every website a target for hacking.
Spam
Hackers also utilize the computing power and anonymity from your website server to send out an endless stream of spam. By the time you realize you’ve been hacked, the hacker will have already gotten his revenue from churning out hundreds of spam emails. When a server is identified as a source of spam, it gets blacklisted. That’s why hackers prefer to use your server rather than their own.
Another tactic hackers use is inserting backlinks into websites for profit. A backlink is an incoming hyperlink from one web page to another website. The more backlinks a website has, the higher chance it has of ranking higher on search engines. Unethical marketers will purchase backlinks on hacked websites to ‘cheat’ their way up the search engine ranks. Why was my website hacked, you ask? For spam!
Viruses
When someone hacks your website, they can make it so everyone who visits comes into contact with a virus. Once those people have the virus on their machine, the hacker has new options to make money. For example, they can encrypt every file on your machine and refuse to decrypt them without payment. These types of viruses are called ransomware. They can also create viruses that can insert new advertisements into every site you visit. This creates revenue for either the people selling the advertising space or the products themselves.
Viruses can also record every click and key you press on your computer. This information is accessible to the hacker who will then look for valuable passwords like those to your banking accounts. By injecting viruses into your website, a hacker has access to a plethora of money-making opportunities. It doesn’t matter if your website gets a million hits a day or one, a hacker can find a way to make it profitable.
Why Was My Website Hacked?
The answer to the question “ Why was my website hacked? ” is for two reasons. The first reason is money. The second reason is that your site was not properly protected. Fortunately, Bay Computing & Consulting has everything you need to protect your website. We can build you a sleek and secure website and teach you how to operate it properly. We also offer emergency IT support in the case of a worst case scenario. Whether your website is large or small, you need to stay prepared. To secure your website from hackers, contact us today.