explaining hacking to a client

[findtim]

i've had some hack attacks that have been successful in recent months but knock on wood i've stopped them, but its taken time, not just mine but thank you to those dnt members who have given me advice and suggestions.

the difficult thing is explaining it to the client as they all think it shouldn't happen and its my fault.

but they never think that if they build a house, a tree can fall onto it, but the builder is not responsible, in the internet world they think the webdesigner is responsible , in my experience recently.

so to repeat myself ( as i have now refined it ) here's now what i say:

you have a shop, it has a front window and today someone throws a brick through it, the person that built the shop doesn't pay to fix it, the person who put in the glass you will ring up and PAY him to fix it ( so why not the web guy ? ) , he says its now brick proof, tomorrow someone throws a large rock through your window, the glass guy won't replace it for free ! that glass was brick proof....... how was i meant to know they would use a large rock? so you pay to fix the window, next day someone throws a " cast iron 3 foot replica of captain cook " through the window.

i guess you know the rest of the story.

tell all your clients " you may get hacked " saves grief later

tim

 

[FirstPageResults]

Depends - Was it explained to them upfront that maintenance to prevent exploit was necessary? And are they paying for said maintenance?

 

[findtim]

Depends - Was it explained to them upfront that maintenance to prevent exploit was necessary? And are they paying for said maintenance?

the current problem is its a client i have had for over 8 years so its only now getting hacked so my comments were for future clients.

she understands now, another point is most clients no nothing so unless you tell them you risk feeling bad and they don't even know why? so communication always wins IMO

they are paying from now on...

tim

 

[Data Glasses]

A group email to all clients 'Please Be Aware' to all informing them of the possibility of this kind of attack occurring and is beyond your control may be prudent, do you think

 

[findtim]

A group email to all clients 'Please Be Aware' to all informing them of the possibility of this kind of attack occurring and is beyond your control may be prudent, do you think

we have been working on new terms and conditions, just like you get in the mail from your bank, elect, gas etcccc

so we are preparing to draw a "line in the sand"

same as banks "agree or leave........."

tim

 

[Chumby]

Tim,

I lost about 10 sites in the DistributeIT hack a while back then... Man had to do some talking...

Since then numerous client sites been hacked with Joomla/Wordpress installs...

My advice, charge clients more for hosting ($30 per/month instead of $5) and ensure your isp have backup plans which can restore sites quickly...

For small clients... just go a dreamweaver templated site... no need for a CMS to be installed and hours of updates in the future....

Cheers
Chumby

 

[findtim]

charge more is good advice, backups of course but have found some problems with that as well when the server backup also has the hack ! eg: site gets hacked backuped sunday, you discover monday.

i'm over dreamweaver i only use it now to view wp files, i understand your logic though
thanks

tim

 

[helloworld]

I charge $100 pm for updates and back ups. That includes fixing shit if a update breaks something. Most clients take this option though I tell them they can do it the self but if it breaks it's hourly rate.