SiteLock’s executive vice president of business development Tom Serani at the Parallels Summit last week in Orlando
(WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) — The migration of malware from email to the web is an ongoing trend, but its impact is already widespread. Malware is now a major threat to the operators of even fairly simple websites, and as a result, hosting providers have to be on guard against these threats to their systems.
Last week, we ran a feature in which, with input from website security firm StopTheHacker, we identified five of the top malware threats facing the hosting industry, and helped to illustrate the scope of those threats for hosting providers.
Solutions for mitigating these threats are gaining prominence in the hosting ecosystem, a fact that was on vivid display last week at the Parallels Summit in Orlando. And we continued the run of coverage this week with a Monday demo from SiteLock, a malware scanning firm that also offers a unique hands-on repair function.
Furthering that discussion, SiteLock’s recently- appointed executive vice president of business development Tom Serani – a veteran of several organizations that regard partnership with the hosting channel as a key to their business – conducted an email Q&A with the WHIR, answering some more questions about the malware threat and the company’s solution.
WHIR: What exactly is the problem that SiteLock is working to solve? And what is the solution?
Tom Serani: Small business owners do not often have an IT staff, or the time to address website and technology support issues. SiteLock allows them to focus on running their business while we secure their online reputation. To keep the experience simple, SiteLock functions entirely as a cloud-based service and does not require any downloads or setup processes. We deliver our patent-pending technology and services in a way that supports a single entry of the business domain and we instantly begin to help protecting them from getting hacked, blacklisted, and having their business impacted by online threats.
WHIR: What is the hosting provider’s role (and its responsibility) relating to the security, vulnerability and blacklisting of its customers’ sites?
TS: We see the gap between the hosting providers’ responsibility as being related to the infrastructure and website environment. Once small businesses are online, however, their website is their responsibility to secure. The applications they run and the interface they deliver to visitors and customers need to be secure. We also see the hosting companies as sharing responsibility for educating businesses about ancillary services that are available, such as website security, often to the point of delivering or making such services available to their clients.
WHIR: You’ve had a lot of experience in working with the hosting business as a channel. Can you talk about how that relationship works in general, and for SiteLock specifically?
TS: I have been fortunate to have spent more than a decade working with web-based technology and service providers and building many valuable partnerships that provide a framework to distribute value added products and services. I see this as an opportunity to continue my relationships with industry experts and providers that focus on making small businesses successful through a number of security related services and technologies. I now have the additional benefit of being part of a company that has a seasoned executive team with deep roots in website and technology markets.
WHIR: There are a couple of alternatives for protecting websites against malware. What does SiteLock see as its advantage, or distinguishing features?
TS: SiteLock is a leader in the space because of our unique approach to online security. Unlike traditional malware detection providers, SiteLock takes the necessary steps to correct problems as they are identified and harden websites to protect them from being exposed to future attacks. While nothing is a 100-percent guarantee, SiteLock takes a continuous improvement approach to learning about new risks quickly so we can incorporate them into our detection and correction procedures. Also, due to the fact that we have scanned millions of websites, our security intelligence far surpasses providers who rely solely on standard lists and databases for their malware identification.
WHIR: Is there an opportunity for hosts to profit in protecting against this kind of vulnerability? Is it a service they can sell, or is it more a matter of improving their services, maybe raising their base level price in the process?
TS: The current demand for website security technology and services is so great that the market certainly presents the opportunity for either business model depending on the respective partners’ structure. However, we do remain committed to being a comprehensive, yet affordable solution for small businesses.
About Liam Eagle
Liam Eagle has worked as a contributor to the Web Host Industry Review since its inception in 2000, and as editor since 2003. He has been editor of the WHIR's print magazine since its launch. His daily involvement in the gathering and reporting of Web hosting news and his regular interaction with Web hosting leaders gives him an uncommonly broad appreciation of the issues and tends facing the business. Through his WHIR blog, Liam spots Web hosting trends and offers opinions on the industry-wide impacts of major developments and the motivation behind big announcements. Follow him on Twitter @liameagle
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Malware and hackers have become major threat to hosting service providers and also to the customers. It is vital to initiate more extreme steps to make sure these threats does not effect the service.