HostGator

HostGator was founded in October 2002 by Brent Oxley, who was then a student at Florida Atlantic University. In 2006, the company moved from the original office in Boca Raton, Florida to a new 20,000 square foot building in Houston, Texas.{{cite web |last=Harrell |first=Barry |date=September 21, 2012 |title=Web hosting company expanding into Austin |url=https://www.statesman.com/article/20120921/NEWS/309218111 |access-date=April 24, 2019 |language=en-US |newspaper=Austin American-Statesman |archive-date=April 24, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424163904/https://www.statesman.com/article/20120921/NEWS/309218111 |url-status=dead }} In June 2006, the company opened its first international office in Canada.

In 2008, Inc. Magazine ranked HostGator in its list of fastest growing companies at 21st in the United States, and 1st in the Houston-Sugar Land-Baytown, Texas area.{{cite web | url=https://www.inc.com/profile/hostgator | title=HostGator | work=Inc.|year=2019 | access-date=April 24, 2019}} The same year, HostGator decided to make their hosting service green by working with Integrated Ecosystem Market Services.{{cite web | url=https://www.whtop.com/news/18500-host-gator-paints-itself-green | title=Host Gator Paints Itself Green | date=October 6, 2008 | website=whtop.com|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190424163908/https://www.whtop.com/news/18500-host-gator-paints-itself-green|archive-date=April 24, 2019}}

In 2008, HostGator prepared for competition with companies touting themselves as providing "unlimited" hosting services. Founder Brent Oxley was adamant about being able to back up an "unlimited" option prior to offering service named as such and increased staffing. He suggested that this move increased sales by at least 30%.{{cite web|url=https://www.webhostingsecretrevealed.net/the-truth-about-unlimited-hosting/|title=The Truth About Unlimited Hosting|last=Low|first=Jerry|website=webhostingsecretrevealed.net|date=August 29, 2019|access-date=September 6, 2019}}

In 2010, an office was added in Austin, Texas. In May 2011, HostGator started operations in India with an office in Nashik, Maharashtra and a data center.{{cite web|url=https://www.medianama.com/2012/06/223-godaddy-launches-indian-operations-appoints-rajiv-sodhi-as-managing-director/|title=GoDaddy Launches Indian Operations; Appoints Rajiv Sodhi As Managing Director|author=Vikas SN|website=medianama.com|date=June 20, 2012|access-date=April 24, 2019}}

On July 13, 2012, HostGator was sold to Endurance International Group (EIG) for an aggregate purchase price of $299.8 million, of which $227.3 million was paid in cash at the closing.{{cite web|url=https://ir.endurance.com/static-files/9ca83633-9c25-468d-9298-4f87b1a59a22|title=Endurance International Group Annual Report 2013|year=2013|page=95|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-date=March 14, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180314031948/http://ir.endurance.com/static-files/9ca83633-9c25-468d-9298-4f87b1a59a22|url-status=dead}} On 21 June 2012, CEO and founder Brent Oxley announced the sale of HostGator, and advised employees and users not to worry in part because Oxley would still own the buildings HostGator used. He said he wanted to travel the world before he had children. He was also candid about the failures in creating stable billing and registration section of HostGator, and hoped that Endurance might fix those.{{cite web | title=Blog: See you later Alligator: Brent Oxley talks about sale of HostGator to Endurance at Hostjury | website=hostjury.com | date=2012-06-30 | url=http://hostjury.com/blog/view/453/see-you-later-alligator-brent-oxley-talks-about-sale-of-hostgator-to-endurance | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120630235007/http://hostjury.com/blog/view/453/see-you-later-alligator-brent-oxley-talks-about-sale-of-hostgator-to-endurance | archive-date=2012-06-30 | url-status=dead | access-date=2023-08-09}}

In 2015, HostGator launched Optimized WP, a set of tools for building and maintaining WordPress websites.{{cite web|url=https://infotechlead.com/data-center/hostgator-launches-optimized-wp-to-power-small-business-32012|title=HostGator launches Optimized WP to power small business|last=Khatri|first=Shilpa|website=infotechlead.com|date=September 7, 2015|access-date=September 6, 2019}} By the end of 2015, EIG launched local HostGator sites in Brazil, Russia, India, China, Turkey and Mexico.{{cite web|url=https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1237746/000119312516485478/d109510d10k.htm|title=Endurance International Group Holdings, Inc. (FORM 10-K)|website=U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission|year=2015|access-date=September 6, 2019}} As of 2019, HostGator also offered a web hosting service in the United Kingdom and Australia.{{cite web|url=https://uk.pcmag.com/web-hosting-services/880/hostgator-web-hosting|title=HostGator Web Hosting|last=Wilson|first=Jeffrey L.|website=PC Magazine UK|date=January 30, 2019|access-date=September 6, 2019}}

In 2006, HostGator suffered from a Trojan attack that affected more than 200 machines.{{cite web|url=https://www.infoworld.com/article/2659328/2006-infoworld-security-survey--it-s-confidence-crisis.html|title=2006 InfoWorld Security Survey: IT's confidence crisis|last=Goodin|first=Dan|work=InfoWorld|date=October 30, 2006|access-date=April 24, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190906193102/https://www.infoworld.com/article/2659328/2006-infoworld-security-survey--it-s-confidence-crisis.html|archive-date=September 6, 2019}}

{{Further|UGNazi#Attacks}}

In May 2012, the computer hacker group UGNazi claimed responsibility for hacking the web server of the web host billing software developer WHMCS in an apparent social engineering attack involving HostGator.{{cite web|url=http://news.softpedia.com/news/UGNazi-Leaks-1-7-GB-of-Data-from-WHMCS-Servers-270914.shtml |title=UGNazi Leaks 1.7 GB of Data from WHMCS Servers |website=Softpedia | last=Kovacs|first=Eduard | date=May 22, 2012|access-date=April 24, 2019}}{{cite web|last=Samson|first=Ted|title=Hacker group UGNazi leaks and deletes billing service's database|url=http://www.infoworld.com/t/hacking/hacker-group-ugnazi-leaks-and-deletes-billing-services-database-193867|website=InfoWorld|date=May 22, 2012|access-date=April 24, 2019}} A member of the group Cosmo called WHMCS's hosting provider impersonating a senior employee.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/05/22/hackers-impersonate-web-billing-firms-staff-to-spill-500000-users-passwords-and-credit-cards/ |title=Hackers Impersonate Web Billing Firm's Staff To Spill 500,000 Users' Passwords And Credit Cards |work=Forbes | last=Greenberg|first=Andy|date=May 22, 2012|access-date=April 24, 2019}} They were subsequently granted root access to WHMCS's web server after providing information for identity verification. UGNazi later leaked publicly WHMCS's SQL database containing user information and 500,000 customer credit cards, website files, and cPanel configuration.{{cite web|last=Leyden|first=John|title=Titsup WHMCS calls the Feds after credit-card megaleak|url=https://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/05/22/whmcs_breach/|website=The Register|access-date=November 22, 2013|date=May 22, 2012}} After this issue WHMCS emailed members to change their passwords.

Since its acquisition by Endurance International, HostGator has suffered an increased incidence of server outages and downtime. Notably, on August 2, 2013 and December 31, 2013, Endurance International Group’s data center in Provo, Utah, experienced network outages that affected thousands of customers of Bluehost, HostGator, Hostmonster and JustHost.{{cite web|last=Warren|first=Christina|title=Bluehost, HostGator and HostMonster Go Down|url=http://mashable.com/2013/08/02/bluehost-down/|website=Mashable|access-date=February 16, 2014|date=August 2, 2013}}{{cite web|title=Bluehost, Hostmonster and Others Taken Down For A Day|url=http://www.newtimesreporter.com/2013/08/02/bluehost-hostmonster-and-others-taken-down-for-a-day/|publisher=New Times Reporter|access-date=February 16, 2014|date=August 2, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131016054549/http://www.newtimesreporter.com/2013/08/02/bluehost-hostmonster-and-others-taken-down-for-a-day/|archive-date=October 16, 2013|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|title=Bluehost, HostMonster, And HostGator Websites Go Down Following Maintenance Issue|url=http://www.inquisitr.com/884605/bluehost-hostmonster-and-hostgator-go-down-following-server-outage/|website=Inquisitr|last=Johnson|first=James|access-date=April 24, 2019|date=August 2, 1013}}{{cite web|last=Miller|first=Rich|title=Major Outage for BlueHost, HostGator, HostMonster|url=http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2013/08/02/major-outage-for-bluehost-hostgator/|website=datacenterknowledge.com|access-date=February 16, 2014|date=August 2, 2013}}

In January 2019, TechCrunch reported that Paulos Yibelo, a well-known bug hunter found serious vulnerabilities at Bluehost, DreamHost, OVH, iPage and HostGator.{{cite web|url=https://techcrunch.com/2019/01/14/web-hosting-account-hacks/|title=Some of the biggest web hosting sites were vulnerable to simple account takeover hacks|last=Whittaker|first=Zack|website=TechCrunch|date=January 14, 2019|access-date=September 6, 2019}}

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Category:Web hosting

Category:Companies established in 2002

Category:Companies based in Houston

Category:2002 establishments in Texas

Category:Endurance International Group