The EyeTraffic.com website was hacked with a php script due to an outdated WordPress version that we were using for our blog. But this became a serendipitous event that taught us a business lesson about growth.

George Assimakopoulos
CEO & Principal Manager 

This post actually pains me to write – but I am always compelled to share my successes AND my mistakes with my peers, my partners and my clients.  The EyeTraffic.com website was hacked with a php script due to an outdated WordPress version that we were using for our blog.  On May 8th, I noticed a strange code on my website which I thought I could log into my account and delete it.  Turns out I couldn’t.

I left it alone, thinking of ways to get rid of it myself but on Mother’s Day I went into my website and found a bunch of files changed. Apparently, on May 1st, several major hosting companies got hacked with a malware that was targeting files based on older versions of WordPress.  Guess what…I had MANY of those types of files. 

Well, on Monday of this week, we deleted all malicious files and uploaded clean ones and we contacted the company our site is hosted with…who (of course) went on preaching that this was a WordPress issue and not their problem.  Then on Wednesday, May 12th the SH** hit the fan again – and the malware returned.  This time, we sought expert support from our technology partners at InQbation (these guys are rockstars!).  We fixed the problems (again), updated our versions of WordPress, and added several other security measures to deter this from happening in the future. 

So, what lessons were learned here? 

Lesson learned #1…good customer service needs to empathize with a client’s anxiety rather than creating excuses.  Our hosting company simply acted as if they did not care.  When we called and explained exactly what it was that we found and how it could be potentially valuable information, they would not listen and continued to state that the issue was because of an older version of WordPress we were running.  Not willing to even look when a developer calls to tell you that they found something is completely unacceptable.

Lesson learned #2…we are a small business that is growing.  When we started our firm five years ago, we were on a managed budget and thus introduced operational solutions that were not costly and suited our needs at that time.  Today, gratefully, our firm has grown and so have our needs.  With every small business, the learning-curve on how to scale operations sometimes throws you pitch that can smack you in the face (like this week’s website hacks).  This week we were taught the classic lesson…”you get what you pay for.”  We persevered, and learned, and now we will grow some more.  And isn’t that what being in business is all about?

To our clients, our partners and our fans – we thank you for your understanding this week and we appreciate that you love us for our work rather than our website. We’re online marketers – not internet security specialists.  But we’re learning!