We prioritize the security and integrity of our client’s websites, which has become an increasingly important aspect of our use of proprietary systems and plugins. However, when this journey started, it wasn’t about site security at all. It began with a client needing a specific task accomplished on their website. The obvious approach was to utilize plugins. After all, there’s a plethora of free plugins out there designed to ‘enhance’ a website’s capabilities. However, the reality of using these plugins quickly became apparent. While they often accomplished the intended task, they were painfully slow and poorly coded, causing sites to load slowly and even leading to crashes. This was unacceptable. So I began creating my own, focusing on both efficiency and effectiveness.
How We Outsmarted Hackers
As we advanced in creating these custom solutions, we discovered an invaluable additional benefit: enhanced security. The popular free plugins are often targeted by cybercriminals, but ours are not publicly known. This essentially eliminates the risk of being targeted by hackers, primarily because they don’t even know our solutions exist to target them.
Our approach has been validated many times over the years, but the most recent validation came this past week, the ‘Better Search Replace’ incident. A significant vulnerability was discovered in the ‘Better Search Replace’ plugin. This plugin, widely used for its database search and replacement capabilities, was found to have a critical security flaw. This flaw left over a million sites vulnerable to hackers, causing thousands of sites to be affected. Hackers exploited this flaw to execute code, access sensitive data, and disrupt business operations. However, our clients were unaffected by this widespread issue, thanks to our custom-built alternatives, once again showcasing the advantage of custom-built, proprietary solutions.
For over two decades, I’ve been committed to staying ahead of the curve for our clients, never settling for ‘good enough’. Each year, our solutions evolve to become better and more integrated. It’s remarkable how all these elements – speed, usability, Google rankings, and security – intertwine. Our goal of building faster, more efficient websites yields broad benefits across all aspects of our business, from performance to security.