Website hacking is no wonder a huge form of headache for people connected with the internet. The moment a website is created one immediately needs to be concerned about its security too. Which is a reliable web security software? Will it be able to protect my website from various forms of attack? How can I identify whether it is an attack of misfunctioning of the website? These are some of the basic questions that immediately pop up into the mind of a new website owner.
What is a URL Blacklist?
Platforms like Google, MacAfee, Bing, Norton Safe Web and many such platforms run a security scan often on the websites working under them. The moment a website is found suspicious or running with malicious content such platforms immediately blacklist such URLs and lower down the website. this helps the visitors to avoid visiting such websites and protect their systems from getting injected by a virus.
The moment a URL has blacklisted the website of the owner is informed by the web scan platform. This intimates the website owner to scan the website and find out malicious content to remove it. A hacker can easily hack a website and lower the reputation and face of a business. To avoid such attacks and also lower the chances of a virus affecting your system, search engines lower these websites to protect themselves and the visitors too.
How a URL is blacklisted?
Search engines like Google promise their users safe browsing to maintain the trust of its visitors. Hence a continuous scan is run by such platforms on the websites working under their roof. Malicious websites are flagged as harmful and let down by the search engines. Hence the URLs of such websites are not found on a search engine. This helps to avoid slow browsing and virus getting injected into a system.
A URL can also be blacklisted due to the following reasons:
- Phishing Schemes – a phishing scheme is a fraudulent email or pop-up message that includes a virus and easily is injected into the website and system once you open it.
- Trojan Horses- Trojan horse is a malware that is named as an original file of a website to gain access to the website’s confidential information, user id, password, credential information, and various other details.
- Pharma Hacks – A pharma hack is a way that advertises pharmaceutical products along with the legitimate ones. Hence it is a bit difficult to find the hacked listings.
- Spam – Spam is unwanted mail that ends up occupying storage without any use.
In case of such vulnerabilities and malicious activity found by the web spam the authority flags such websites and informs the visitor and user to stay away from the site in the form of a warning.
How to Identify a Blacklisted Website?
- Run a security check – if you doubt that your website is hacked then immediately run a basic scan on your website to catch a virus or malicious content.
- Google Safe Browsing – it helps to detect issues associated with the website and its functioning. It also helps to rectify if a website is hacked and if it is flagged as a malicious one.
- Geekflare Blacklist Lookup – immediately identifies whether a site is safe to browse or not.
- Website Traffic – when a website has hacked the traffic of the data is lowered. In case when there is a sudden dip in the traffic of the data such web spam authorities inform the website owner to take immediate action and healing steps.
How to avoid URL Blacklisting?
- Update Website – it is important to keep the website updated. This helps to avoid vulnerabilities enter in the core files, plugins, and themes of the website. Hence along with the beautification of the website one must also stay updated about the security of the website.
- Reliable Security Software – there is various security software available online for free. But one should not be attracted to such schemes and on the contrary, find reliable and trustworthy software that scans the website securely. Luring for free scanning software might open doors to malicious activities and hackers!!!
- Reliable Hosting Platform – it is advised to choose a trustworthy and safe hosting platform to maintain the goodwill and reputation of the website.
Safe and Reliable Hosting Platforms
Let us have a look at some of the reliable and safe hosting platforms:
- Sucuri
Sucuri is one of the best website hosting platforms. It helps to keep the website updated and immediately intimates the website owner about the possible damages. The scan reports of the Sucuri scan include the overall working of the website. the software is supportive with:
- Google Blacklist
- Norton Safe Browsing
- Yandex
- Bing Blacklisting
- Phishing Tank
- MacAfee Site Advisor
- Astra
Astra is another safe and reliable website hosting software. Its 360-degree scan helps to give overall information about the activities carried out by the website. It immediately catches any form of malicious files or codes. Astra is a Security Solution partner to various platforms like Drupal, Magento, Joomla, WordPress, and many more.
- SiteLock
SiteLock is one of the well-renowned security solutions. The software is affordable and trusted by various platforms. It helps to patch the malicious activities and allow the website owner to stay relaxed about the security of the website and pay attention to other activities of the business.
- MalCare
MalCare helps to get rid of the malicious files and codes in a hassle-free manner. Hence it is user-friendly software. It helps to run an easy scan on the website and immediately shows up with the results. Therefore, it helps to reduce the burden on the server as well. If your site is blacklisted, MalCare immediately repairs it with its WordPress efficient tools and collective intelligence leveraging.
Conclusion
One should not take website security for granted. It not only harms a website technically but also lowers the reputation and face of a business. Hence to keep a site working smoothly and maintain the trust of the visitors invest in a trustworthy and efficient website hosting provider. This also prevents website blacklisting.