How attackers find your site in the first place
Most attacks aren't personal. Automated tools scan the whole internet, and small sites get found the same way as big ones.
It's natural to think your site is too small to interest anyone. Attackers don't think about sites one at a time, though. They use tools.
How sites get found
- Every new certificate is published in public logs, so a new site shows up within minutes of going live.
- Tools try every address on the internet in a few hours, looking for a known weakness.
- Search engines index more than you expect, including pages you only meant to share with a link.
- Your DNS records are public, so your subdomains and the services you use are easy to list.
Once a tool finds a site, it tries the same few things everywhere, like a leaked key, an old version of popular software, a public backup or a sign-in page with a common password. Whatever works gets used.
Why this is good news
Because the attacks are automated, they look for common, well-known problems. Fixing those puts you ahead of most sites. You don't need to outsmart anyone, just close the doors that tools check.
That's also what a scan does. It looks at your site from the outside, the way those tools would, and tells you which doors are open, without touching your code or signing in.
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