Earlier this week, a colleague was contacted by their provider about their IP. Apparently that IP was breaking the Acceptable Use Policy - by distributing a virus/Trojan/spyware! He was running AVG, a very commonly used antivirus software, and he’s a pretty high level computer user, and yet he was still infected! Without actively monitoring his system, he was infected. This is one of the reasons I strongly recommend managed hosting if you don’t have a server administrator on staff. While that may be an option for your server, personal computers can open up holes into your bank accounts, credit cards, and identity in general, even if your an advanced user. PC World had an article on 17 High-Risk Security Threats (and how to fix them), with topics like online passwords, cellphones, and your browser. If nothing else, definitely make sure to download and install your important updates.

I posted an article the other day about a web hosting company, not a host offering dedicated hosting but a virtual private server (VPS) hosting company, that lost 100,000 websites overnight. The attack was a result of a security hole in the virtualization application that the host company was using, an application called HyperVM from LXLabs.

The vulnerability is a bit of a surprise - not that it existed, but that it wasn’t patched by a company that should have the resources to do so, and more importantly, can’t really afford that kind of vulnerability. What also struck me about the article was the fact that 50% of these customers were unmanaged, which means they had no data backup, and may never recover any of their data. Many of these users would have had their data backed up, but those that didn’t will likely look at it more closely next time around (probably while they’re looking for a new host!).

Does this kind of report make you more likely to consider a managed hosting solution for your company?