Most businesses now choose to build their websites in a content management system (CMS) such as Drupal or Wordpress because it gives them more control to add and change content themselves.

We are noticing increasing numbers of sites being hacked because the software that sits behind them is not regularly being updated.

All sites built in an open source content management system need to be regularly updated.

Why?

Just like operating system or antivirus software, CMS software is updated regularly for online security because everything on the web can become vulnerable with time and hackers are always finding new holes and ways to exploit the backend of a web site.

Most updates are small and are backend software updates only so don’t require you to change the look or design of your site. Your web developer can complete these updates for you and this should be done at least once a quarter.  Updating involves taking a backup of your site and applying any minor, major or security updates to the core of the software and any add-on modules that may have vulnerabilities.

What can happen if you don’t update

So if your site becomes compromised, the worst that could happen are any of these:

• Hundreds of spammy links may cause your site to be penalised by Google leading to loss of traffic and enquiries
• Stealing of personal data such as email addresses, passwords, credit card numbers and private customer information
• Hijacking your site content by changing the layout, deleting or adding inappropriate content or changing the way your site functions
• Changing of your administrative password restricting accessing to your site

Also if your website is more than a couple of years old and has never been updated it may just be running slow or not mobile friendly.

That’s it plain and simple!  A CMS is a must on any modern website but to ensure your CMS platform remains secure and operates with peak performance you must update regularly.  We can help with this and it may be as little as one to several hours work depending on the age, size and complexity of your site.

When it comes to online security, peace of mind is something that’s always worth having.