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"One of the big things I see happening now is entire website hijackings" It's true that website hacking remains a big issue in the spammiest areas of the web e

"One of the big things I see happening now is entire website hijackings" It's true that website hacking remains a big issue in the spammiest areas of the web even though it's completely illegal. Unfortunately, there's a lot of unmaintained, unpatched web servers out there that blackhats exploit. It's fundamentally a hard problem, but we've been working on the next generation of our hacking detection algorithms. I've always wondered why we don't see more startups offering hacker protection, detection, clean-up, etc. Companies like McAfee made a lot of money protecting personal computers, and there's a similar opportunity on the web server side.

bhartzer 13y ago
If that's not hint from someone 'in the know' about a startup someone should start, I've never seen one.
- loceng 13y ago
  Right, but is it really a pain point to the negligent web site owner who doesn't care enough to make sure it's secure - or is it more of a pain point for Google trying to determine what's quality and not?
anthony_franco 13y ago
It only applies to WordPress hosting, but that's one of the main reasons we use WP Engine. They actively monitor and protect against hacked WordPress installations.
larrys 13y ago
"there's a lot of unmaintained, unpatched web servers out there that blackhats exploit" To be sure there are many patched maintained web servers, applications that are also exploited (by someone for some purpose). The best and the brightest get hacked and software maintained even by professionals regularly needs to be patched for new exploits. (Take Flash which seems to be running at between 1 and 4 updates per month). Or even OSX security updates. I know everyone seems to think it's the other guy that doesn't have his act together and isn't following the obvious advice but there are many "other guys" that are quite capable and still end up having problems and being exploited. (Source: stuff that I read in news stories the same as everyone else.)
ivanbrussik 13y ago
I think a lot of companies are scared of how good hackers are these days. No one wants to guarantee protection because a hacker of a more elite variety will come along and take that as a challenge, by hacking into the sites that X company has created. I definitely agree with you that it is somewhat of an under tapped market, but definitely think it needs to be head up by the right individual(s).
- Matt_Cutts 13y ago
  It could be scary to try to outwit hackers, but even if you don't tackle the problem head on, a website backup and recovery service could be a big help.
daviddede 13y ago
I know one: http://sucuri.net http://sucuri.net Focused exactly on what you mentioned (web site recovery, monitoring and protection). *I work there :)
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]

bhartzer 13y ago

If that's not hint from someone 'in the know' about a startup someone should start, I've never seen one.

loceng 13y ago
Right, but is it really a pain point to the negligent web site owner who doesn't care enough to make sure it's secure - or is it more of a pain point for Google trying to determine what's quality and not?

anthony_franco 13y ago

It only applies to WordPress hosting, but that's one of the main reasons we use WP Engine. They actively monitor and protect against hacked WordPress installations.

larrys 13y ago

"there's a lot of unmaintained, unpatched web servers out there that blackhats exploit" To be sure there are many patched maintained web servers, applications that are also exploited (by someone for some purpose). The best and the brightest get hacked and software maintained even by professionals regularly needs to be patched for new exploits. (Take Flash which seems to be running at between 1 and 4 updates per month). Or even OSX security updates. I know everyone seems to think it's the other guy that doesn't have his act together and isn't following the obvious advice but there are many "other guys" that are quite capable and still end up having problems and being exploited. (Source: stuff that I read in news stories the same as everyone else.)

ivanbrussik 13y ago

I think a lot of companies are scared of how good hackers are these days. No one wants to guarantee protection because a hacker of a more elite variety will come along and take that as a challenge, by hacking into the sites that X company has created. I definitely agree with you that it is somewhat of an under tapped market, but definitely think it needs to be head up by the right individual(s).

Matt_Cutts 13y ago
It could be scary to try to outwit hackers, but even if you don't tackle the problem head on, a website backup and recovery service could be a big help.

daviddede 13y ago

I know one: http://sucuri.net http://sucuri.net Focused exactly on what you mentioned (web site recovery, monitoring and protection). *I work there :)

deleted 13y ago
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