Earlier this year, I was contacted by two members of my church who own a own business, http://radioworks.us. RadioWorks is a Windows-based traffic system for scheduling all radio spots and programs. A while back, they had a WordPress website built by a company that no longer is in business. They have had some issues with their website and asked if we could help them fix the problems and provide ongoing support.
Before we transferred the website to be hosted with OurChurch.Com, our tech team did a review of the site and found some problems. After resolving the visible problems, we moved the site to be hosted at OCC and provided support for their site. Unfortunately, nobody was aware that their site had been hacked some time in the past and installed malware in their site files. So when we moved their site to the OCC servers, all old problems came with the website.
The problems carried on for nearly over a month until we decided that the only way to get rid of all the infected files was to build a new website. I am happy to announce that today the new site is live and the old site with all of its problems is gone.
So why did this happen? What caused so many problems with their old site?
The reason that their old site was vulnerable to hackers was because updates to the WordPress platform and the plugins used on their website were not being performed. Some of the plugins that were installed on their site were no longer supported by their developers and some plugins weren’t actively being used on the site.
When we built the new website, we created a new version of the same design but didn’t use any of the old files because we didn’t want to risk the new site having the same issues from the old site. We didn’t use any of the old, non-supported plugins on the new site. Moving forward, we will be performing regular updates to WordPress and the plugins that are installed on the new site to minimize vulnerability.
For all you website owners, please make sure that you or your developer/hosting company is regularly updating the website platform to reduce the possibility of hacking. If you are constantly experiencing technical problems with your current website and want to discuss building a new website without all the problems, please contact us here. We would love to help you accomplish your goals and mission through a worry-free website!
President at OurChurch.Com
Mark has served as the President of OurChurch.Com since its founding in 1996, leading the Custom Website and Sales departments with dedication and expertise.
Over the years, he has managed hundreds of custom website, graphic design, and marketing projects for churches, non-profits, businesses, and schools.
Beyond his professional work, Mark is deeply committed to serving his community. He coordinates and packs over 700 meals each week for children through One Community Now’s Pack A Sack for Kids program, volunteers in the Children’s Ministry at Generations Christian Church, and participates in a weekly Bible study.
