A public works director hires a consultant to plan, design, and
manage the construction of a high-profile project—and set up a
website to keep the community informed during public input
stages. The site is so successful that the agency decides to
keep it to provide future project updates.  One day, the public
works director receives a phone call from a concerned citizen
asking why the site was replaced with one offering objectionable
content. The director types in the URL and finds images and text
no agency would ever want to see on their website.  If this
occurred due to someone “hacking” into the site and posting
unwanted material, the fix, while not easy, can be made by
removing what the hacker posted or taking down the server until
the site can be re-established. But if this happened because the
agency or consultant no longer has access to the site, they may
be facing a much larger problem—and may not be able to delete
the material.  To prevent this from happening, it’s important to
understand the basics