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Businesses constantly face cyberattacks aimed at stealing or disrupting operations. Data breaches expose sensitive information, causing financial losses and reputational damage. Ransomware encrypts critical data, demanding payment for its return. Malware damages systems, while phishing tricks employees into providing access. These threats underscore the critical need for robust IT security.

Internal threats stem from within an organization, often due to human error, negligence, or malicious intent by employees, contractors, or other authorized users. These threats can include accidental data leaks, improper handling of sensitive information, and deliberate sabotage. Strong access controls, employee training, and robust monitoring are crucial to mitigating internal risks.

External threats originate from outside the organization's network, typically from cybercriminals, hackers, or malicious actors. These threats encompass a wide range of attacks, including malware infections, ransomware deployments, phishing campaigns, and denial-of-service attacks. Firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and comprehensive cybersecurity measures are essential for defending against external threats.

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summary

Client: Online Courses Australia (OCA)
Industry: Online Education
Challenge: Severe website traffic loss, cyber attack, denial of service, poor conversion rates, hidden bot protection misconfiguration
Solution: Cyber incident diagnosis, Cloudflare reconfiguration, performance optimisation, email deliverability improvements
Outcome: Website traffic restored, 30% increase in conversion rate, improved email delivery, recovery from over $50,000 in wasted advertising, and Cloudflare costs dramatically reduced

how it started

Online Courses Australia (OCA), a leader in digital education, unknowingly endured a silent cyber attack that persisted for up to two months over the Christmas period. Although they initially contacted HPCR Technology for support, they chose to act on our early recommendations with the assistance of another IT provider. Unfortunately, while the provider implemented Cloudflare—a robust global network service for enhancing security and performance—the system was misconfigured.

Months later, OCA reached out again. They were uncertain whether the attack had truly ended and were facing alarming symptoms: plummeting sales, deteriorating conversion rates, and rising frustration with their existing IT consultant who could not provide clear answers.

what needed to be done

When HPCR Technology re-engaged with OCA, we immediately commenced a full diagnostic review of their web infrastructure. Our team quickly discovered a critical misconfiguration: Cloudflare’s bot protection was incorrectly set, resulting in over 90% of traffic being blocked. At the time, OCA was attracting over 30,000 unique monthly visitors—this meant approximately 27,000 potential customers were being silently turned away.

To make matters worse, OCA’s internal teams were unable to detect the issue. Their IP addresses had been whitelisted, so their browsing experience appeared normal. Google Analytics misleadingly indicated that ads were functioning correctly and driving traffic. This created a false sense of confidence while over $50,000 in advertising spend was effectively wasted.

The misconfiguration triggered a scramble. OCA reviewed everything—from enrolment systems to sales funnels to CRM platforms—without realising the core issue lay in the bot protection settings. Adding to their frustration, the previous IT provider had locked them into a $5,000/month, 12-month contract with a Cloudflare enterprise-level service that was unnecessary for their needs.

our teams dedication

HPCR Technology immediately rectified the bot protection settings. Post-implementation, only 5–8% of traffic was appropriately identified as bots and blocked—an acceptable and expected level. With legitimate visitors able to access the site again, OCA’s sales rapidly recovered.

We also took action to address the excessive ongoing costs. Our team successfully renegotiated OCA’s Cloudflare agreement, scaling it back to a level appropriate to their actual needs and usage. This new agreement costs only a fraction of their original contract, delivering immediate financial relief and long-term savings without compromising on protection.

Beyond resolving the original issues, we also tackled performance head-on. Recognising the importance of site speed in ecommerce, we conducted a series of on-site and backend optimisations, including advanced caching via Cloudflare. These efforts led to a 30% improvement in conversion rates, directly increasing revenue without any additional advertising spend.

Finally, we addressed a long-standing issue with OCA’s email deliverability. Despite sending thousands of emails daily, many were not reaching inboxes due to improper authentication settings. We corrected their SPF, DKIM, and DMARC configurations, ensuring messages reached their audience and stopped appearing as spam.

Website access was fully restored, recovering tens of thousands of lost customers.

Advertising ROI was maximised by fixing the root cause of poor conversions.

Conversion rates increased by 30% through performance enhancements.

Cloudflare costs were reduced significantly after renegotiating the service agreement.

Email campaigns achieved far higher deliverability through correct configuration.

OCA regained trust in their IT systems and now enjoys a stable, high-performing infrastructure.