By Rashid Herrera.

First, take note that ALL websites are prone to attacks by hackers whether it be static (in pure HTML, although it’s hard, but they can get in through hosting vulnerabilities or by stealing the codes directly from the computer of the company that sells web designs), and the dynamic or programmed websites (in which the user can change the content) are especially vulnerable.

But Why was my website hacked?

1. Sometimes hackers (usually young people who don’t have a job called “script-kids”) just want to feel the power of controlling someone else’s work, and their only objective is to get them out of the internet, change the presentation, or to leave their mark, sending an “I was here” message. There is also a “game” in which script-kids earn “points” for each site that they destroy. There are forums in which they get together and talk about their anecdotes and give lists of sites that they have destroyed. For them it’s just a big game to destroy the work of others. What they usually do is to change the Home Page for one that says “SADXXX (Script-Kid Nick Name) WAS HERE” or something similar, in black, with bright green, red, or black, etc.

2. In other cases, they upload programs that send chain mail with sp@m, using their server, wasting their band width, making it so that other websites add your URL (the www.yourbusiness.com) to their sp@m list, so when you need to send e-mails, some of them won’t receive them.

3. There is also the case of more specialized hackers who upload programs to the website, programs that take the website’s domain and look for big security holes so that they can use them. That way, they can:

a. Upload other files to the server: images, or websites that show the information that they want. Sometimes only one page with the hacker’s information (the nick name and location), in other cases pages with links to websites that they wish to promote, or pages with information that they wish to publish.

b. Modify the website’s data base (if it’s a dynamic website): Why? To change the content of the web pages shown to the public (imagine what it would be like to be able to change the prices of items in an online store!), or to steal important information like e-mail, names, and user codes, or credit card numbers.

c. And something that is common in the year 2010 is the existence of hackers that leave the website exactly the way it is, but they install small fragments of code that display a small window or announcement that requests to download something that is normal for many of us. For example, open a little window that say: “this page requires the newest version of the Flash Player to see it.. Click here to download it,” and when you click, what you are really downloading is a Trojan that will give the hacker access to your computer, who will look for your account numbers, credit card numbers or ftp accounts to infect other websites.

Who did it?

It’s always possible for the webmaster to locate the country in which the attack was done, through the website’s access log. By checking the ip, the country can be defined, ad in my experience, I have seen that it’s done in countries like India, Pakistan, Rusia, China, Germany, USA, among others.

It’s NOT possible to find out exactly which city or house the attack was done form (although maybe the CIA can, especially on TV, but I don’t know how).

An important detail which you must take into account is the most of them use programs which let them cover their ip,or to use an ip that’s not their own, so that information isn’t all the sure.

Can you know who did it?

I can’t. Maybe an expert with more knowledge can give chase until finding out exactly who is responsible.

Will it happen again?

It’s not nice to answer with the truth; nobody will like it, but it’s very probable that it will happen again… Why?

a. Every server has vulnerabilities that can be attacked by an expert hacker. Even if the ones that are in charge of the host (if it’s a serious company) take the time to close all the recently discovered vulnerabilities, a hacker can attack a careless host and violate it.

b. Every dynamic website (independent of the programming language that is used) has programming language vulnerabilities, and every day there are new patches for the holes that are found. If you can have a webmaster which is dedicated to finding and closing all these programming vulnerabilities in your website, then it will be much safer, but take into consideration the fact the everyday there are new patches. It’s a constant job.

c. Every website (dynamic or static) has access codes saved somewhere. If your webmaster carelessly saved them in a non-secure site, or if they are in a computer that doesn’t have an antivirus, or if it has a deficient or obsolete antivirus, the password could be stolen! Sometimes they are stolen from the computer of the website’s owner (who usually has these codes also, and the computers usually aren’t very safe). At least in the year 2010, this is the most common method used by hackers.

Every website is prone to attacks by hackers, even such relevant websites like Google, Adobe, Microsoft, among other millions.

For me, the subject of hackers is like that of robbers who enter houses. Each robber has his/her own reason. Avoiding the entry of robbers into your house depends on the security measures you’ve taken, and the construction materials. In the same way, avoiding having your website attacked depends a lot on the company which works (the webmasters or builders), but it also depends a lot on the security of the programming, or on the construction materials.
If you use a CMS like Joomla, Drupal, Xoops, etc, it is very probable that hackers will attack, because being free, they can download them, study their vulnerabiblities and attack, or they can simply do a search on Google for “vulnerabilities in Joomla 1.5…” and choose which one they wish to exploit. What can do if my website is with a free CMS?

a. Look for somebody to update it every time there is a new version, since the new versions have the found patches.

b. Use a CMS that is not very well known. In that case, it’s possible that the hackers won’t know the vulnerabilities very well.

c. Use a web designing company that will back you up and who will support you in the case that you are attacked by hackers.

d. Use a safe hosting company that offers good infrastructure and software updates, and constant security copies. Fortunately, our web designing company offers hosting that makes frequent backups, and when we have been attacked by hackers, our websites have been cleaned and restored in a matter of two hours.

e. Cross your fingers so that no hacker attacks you.

The subject of hackers on the internet won’t change. It’s like trying to get rid of robbers.

What we can do is to use serious companies in web designing and hosting which will help us in the case of an attack to restore our website, or to help protect us at maximum against the attackers.

What’s the use? How should I use them? Does it really matter?

Social media marketing makes use of pages such as Facebook, twitter, MySpace, Hi5, TripAdvisor, among others in order to promote services or products, but also because they can influence slightly acquiring or maintaining good search engine positions, or even more important, to generate visits to their websites.

If you have already ventured into Web 2.0 (the web where people give their points of view, participate and create content pages, as described above) then here are some suggestions on how to use it properly.

Let’s start by answering the questions above:

What’s the use of social sites like facebook?

Social networks like Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 are websites developed for the sole purpose of connecting people and finding old friends, Facebook has long outdone the rest and began to explore the areas of trade by noting that many people were creating a profile for their business (violating the rules of Facebook that allowed only personal profiles) then opened the option to create pages which ARE for business objectives and provide useful tools for companies which have the profiles. The idea of a page on any social network is to use infrastructure to distribute their product information and thus “getting free advertisement. For example, with Facebook we can send a message to all our fans with a new offer. They can visit our website and view offers or see us online and chat about prices or services, all for free!

Other 2.0 sites like Twitter are called micro blogging and what is intended is simply to provide spaces where I can tell my network of friends what I’m doing in a few characters (as many as a text message from my phone). Why? Initially it may not seem very relevant, but I can say, for example, “Open season for whale watching and dolphin at only $ 50″ and this message is distributed widely among people, again, marketing our product. In the case of twitter, it has been observed that the links we put in these profiles are quite important and enough to help your website.

And in the case of TripAdvisor, a Web site mixing 2.0 and 1.0 where some of the content is set by the person and others by users, the advantage of having a listing there is that it will give broad exposure to our touristic product / service but also, as a double-edged sword, all customers can post positive or negative views of our service. If we offer something of quality, it will certainly help us a lot, and our product will sell well.

How should I use these sites?

In simple words: In any way that serves to “Sell” your product!

Some ideas:

It is important to have an updated page and for this:

1) It is recommended to have an active profile; update the status at least 2-3 times a week. An upgrade is when you as the owner of the page write something new or add something (photo), NOT when your friends write something on your “wall” (wall).

2) Have contact with users; if they comment on you status, answer it whenever possible.

3) The status updates should have priority over user comments. This is because we want to do social media marketing, and “sell” our product or display their virtues. We will not be selling directly, but passively. In social networks, you sell more by exposing than by offering.

Contents:

1) Use keywords for the pages’ information, forums, groups, etc.

2) PICTURES: a picture is worth more than a thousand words, so it is important to constantly be uploading photos to the profile.

3) VIDEOS: Every day, videos get more and more important for search results.

4) Links: Add links to sites related to the subject of the page, sites that are important to the field that is your business. E.g.: If GW had a profile on Facebook it would be valid to put a link in the wall area or links part to http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/

5) Unique Content: What in Facebook is good, perhaps on Twitter and LinkedIn is wrong or is spam, so it is not advisable to write the same thing on Facebook that you write on twitter, etc.

Fans or Followers:

These are the base of the success of your social page. Remember that your “advertising” is coming to your network of friends and fans only, so you want to have a huge network of fans, several million!

Is it really important to have a page on Facebook, twitter, etc?

I can assure one thing: It is fashionable. But like all fashion, it could be that pass on within a while, but it seems that web users are shifting to listen more to people, and therefore it is possible for it to stay quite a while.

It is important to recognize that if you are going to have a Facebook page, MySpace, Twitter, etc, spend time, update frequently and respond to comments, otherwise you better not have anything.

Should I have a link to my social page from my own website?

Yes, it is a good idea, although it is more important for your social page to have several links relevant to your website. Remember: You do not want to drive traffic to (e.g.) Facebook, you’d rather drive traffic from Facebook into your web, and especially to achieve sales, wherever!

For example, it’s great that you write on Twitter: “Whale watching season started at $ 50 per person”

Very nice and informative, but what now? If I want to see whales … What do I do? Where am I?

So it’s better like this: “Whale watching season started at $ 50 per person http://www.mysitio.com/reservacion.html”

Can Gallery Webs help me with my page in social pages?

Yes, of course!

GW can help you create your page (not the profile) in Facebook or any other social network, and then configure it. The content is owned by the customer and must be you who are upgrading as it is important to fill it with photos, content, etc.

In addition, you must create your list of friends by connecting their own emails to the social network which then pulls from the list of potential fans.

When done, we will gladly help you to establish a work plan and define strategies to capture the interest of fans, raising “campaigns and interest” for their products or services.

Shoutwire is a community through which its members can add to the website, things which they have seen on the internet and were interested in, and they want to share this information with other people.

In order to do this, you must be a registered user on the website, registering is very easy, also you will be required to download a toolbar that you will use to share whatever you wish with others.

The Shoutwire style imitates digg somewhat, but with the difference that here what is commonplace is finding articles, pictures and videos, for pure fun and entertainment, even though various topics such as politics, science, technology, and health are also covered. The main thing you will find however is entertainment.

Another aspect worth noting is the freedom that is allowed on this site, because it is very common to find explicit content such as suggestive and nude images.

Format

I have mentioned that it is similar to digg, another similarity is the way in which other people can access the content which you have posted, for them to place you on the homepage, your articles, pictures and videos must have a certain score, and since it is very complicated to have access to the new content, it is very common to see the same content posted for days and even weeks.

Besides this, you can also become one of the writers and appear on the editorial section, to do this you must get in contact with them.

Everything that is on Shoutwire can be commented, if you are a member of course, otherwise sometimes you will not be able to even read the article or see the images and videos.

Another very interesting thing about this social network is the range of their public, which they themselves state is composed of 71% men, also the average age as can be seen on the image.

Users of shoutwire

Does Shoutwire work as a Marketing tool?

It’s relative, if you promote yourself they will remove your account, also links cannot be included in the comments, maybe uploading images and content related to your business will help, but once again we go to the point that it is very difficult to find them, and also since most comments need to be given a score by other users, leaving a comment with the purpose of promoting yourself will get you scored with a 3 (garbage).

Advertising on Shoutwire: Now, you do have the possibility of advertising yourself on the website by paying for it, and the prices go from $400 dollars per week for a simple link of 25 characters, up to $1200 dollars per week for a 780×90 banner. There are very few of these…Is it maybe because the service is too expensive?

Shoutwire is one more option of sharing those interesting things that we see on the internet every day.

It might be possible that some other way of advertising through Shoutwire has eluded us, if you happen to know, then please share it.

Reddit is related with social markers, these work through users that in a simple way are able to classify, store and share all kinds of links, such as:

* videos
* maps
* books
* news
* novelties
* pictures
* science

Now we are working in different things, but for now you must know that GW is growing up a lot!

Around a month ago we start an intensive training with most of our team, we are imparting a deep training in SEO and Web Marketing.