Want to know more? The FBI released a Public Service Announcement with recommendations - download that to the right!

Here is a screen capture, currently live, from a home remodeler in the Midwest. The content of their website has been hijacked by hackers sympathetic to ISIS, the terror group in the Middle East. This is a situation you don’t want to find yourself in! Not only do you lose sales until you wrestle control back from the hackers, your site is an animated billboard supporting terrorism until it’s fixed. That has to be the worst of all possible worlds.

The good news is that we have a number of ways to keep you and your business safe. The common thread to sites being hacked is that they all use the popular website software, WordPress. Security vulnerabilities are a known issue with WordPress, largely driven by the fact that the platform is so popular.

Permanently Secure Your Site

The best and most permanent fix is easy. Get off of WordPress! While the platform is flexible and low-cost, you really can't afford the risk of being hacked. WordPress sites are the target of hackers because the template platform is so commonly used. This problem isn’t going to go away – other than by having a talk with your tech team and asking them to build your site off of Wordpress.

Get the risks as low as you can

There are ways to mitigate the risk of hacking, but not remove it altogether, if you are confident that your tech team will perform monthly maintenance. Essentially, the plug-ins that make WordPress sites flexible and appealing are the root of the security problem on the platform. By aggressively keeping up with security updates for all of your sites plugins, you can minimize your exposure to ISIS sympathizer groups. Of course, the site shown above is managed by a prominent digital marketing agency, so even a professionally run website is not immune to WordPress security flaws.

Want to know more? Download the FBI's public service announcement below for more tips to securitize your site.