In April of 2018, security researcher Kevin Beaumont discovered an interesting case of web defacement on the NHS Insights website. He’d expected to find data related to patient surveys about their experiences with the National Health Service. Instead, he found a very different kind of message. A review of the page’s cache suggested that this eerie music and imposing image had been in place for at least the previous five days.

Website availability is a top priority for enterprise IT teams. Depending on the purpose of your website, even a couple of seconds of downtime can cost big money. That’s why monitoring for website availability issues is a critical part of any IT team’s overall mission. Downtime happens. But sometimes it can be prevented. We’ve put together this guide to help you get the most out of your website uptime monitor. Let’s dive in, shall we?