You’ve seen the ads for do-it-yourself websites everywhere, from online to broadcast television commercials. Promoted as a great solution for small scale enterprises, including law firms, there’s just one piece of information missing: some of these sites, especially the more popular ones, are frequent targets for hackers. That’s why IMS law firm websites are built using proprietary software programs with a level of security you don’t get with mainstream do-it-yourself websites.
Need a visual? Compare the estate planning documents created by an online website to the estate plan that you create for clients. You know which one you would rather have.
Who wants to hack a system no one uses? Way back when, when Apple computers were not as popular as they are today, word was that Apple computers never got viruses. There simply weren’t enough of them to be of interest to hackers. The same goes for websites that are built using highly popular systems. The more popular the system, the more attractive the websites are to hackers.
Software vulnerabilities Certain website platforms require maintenance on a regular basis to prevent hackers from gaining access. Left unprotected, they are easy targets. Some of these sites use plugins, a piece of software used to add certain functions to the website. These are created by third-party programmers, and not all are created equally. You may chose one that looks great and two weeks later, find your site has been hacked.
Why does someone want to infiltrate your website? To gain access to databases of information stored within your server. Worst case—your website is used to download viruses, malware and ransomware onto your client’s and colleague’s computer systems.
Mega-breaches happen. We don’t want them to happen to our clients. When hackers gain access to massive numbers of websites, like the infamous data breach reported in October 2016 (43 million accounts from one do-it-yourself website company hacked), the entire tech world shudders.
We’re strict about adding content but it’s for client protection. There are a lot of moving parts in IMS websites, including website optimization and SEO. To keep our website performance on track and stay as safe as possible, we do require that you contact us to upload new content or making edits to your website. It protects the website from any malicious code that might be lurking on your system or hitching a ride on files.