By Phil Kolimar

No, I’m not talking about the ‘90s epic starring Sigourney Weaver... I’m referring to the website thief. Hard to believe, but yep it’s happening. Surprisingly too, a website is not as secure or guarded as you might’ve thought.

In Australia, copyright property legislations protect businesses with registered trademarks. Growth and innovation in the digital space forces government to review its legislation, with the Personal Properties Securities Bill amended only two weeks ago.

And it seems these protection legislations are difficult to police.

One of our clients experienced this copycat act of burglary first hand (for not the first, but SECOND time in 12-18 months). In both cases, their greatest pain came from clearing up all the mess; getting in contact with internationally-based registrars, seeking legal representation, and requesting the action of local authorities.

In simple terms, to steal a site all one needs to do is 'save file' and there you have it; the building blocks needed to replicate and/or modify the very same front end look of another’s website. Some sites prove harder to pinch than others, but currently vulnerabilities exist nonetheless.

In our client’s case the plagiarising sites were eventually taken down, but the situation highlighted the current lack of security on the web. Traditionally, you’ll find the majority of websites have not and do not employ high levels of security of their code, but this episode might cause you to rethink.

In most cases, budgets for website projects are spent on design and the development work that goes into bringing a website to life. Consequently, little consideration is given to security protection, unless the website has an e-commerce element.

Preventative software options are currently available for Flash-based sites through ‘encryption’. What the software does is ‘encrypt’ the Flash scripting language, making it near impossible to discern when reopened; its purpose is to ultimately discourage the cheating copycat from doing anything with it. Although preventative security measures are available, it’s important to note that they may not be 100% foolproof. The Flash encryption method will help to protect the code, but may not do anything to protect the images and content found within the Flash.

Nonetheless, encryption methods should be seriously considered as part of a Flash design project on the web. This way, as a website owner, you can rest easy in the knowledge that the design remains your own.

Just a thought...