Steve said that he's been a HostGator customer for 9 years and had been very happy. They are associated with SiteLock, a site that scans websites to check for malware. His site got infected with malware, and SiteLock reported that to HostGator, who notified Steve they were going to take down his site. When he called HostGator, they forwarded him to SiteLock, and they presented him with an option to clean up his site for $300 or subscribe to a monthly service that would cost $97 a month. He called HostGator back and asked them if he could clean up his site himself, but it turned out not to be an option. SiteLock wound up taking his site down. Steve says he went and cleaned his site of malware, but SiteLock still was reporting it for having malware.
Leo says they're doing the right thing to do this. If there's malware on the website, he's potentially infecting everyone who visits his site. Google also will do this, and will block the site to all visitors as long as it's infected with malware. Leo says that he thinks his hosting company won't let him do it himself because it's hard to do. They've partnered with a company that does this, unfortunately at a high cost to him. But Steve has a responsibility when having a public website online. His hosting company and Steve himself are incurring liability by having a site with malware on it online. Leo suggests following the instructions from SiteLock, and unfortunately if it costs $300, that's what he'll have to pay to keep his site online.
