Is Your Website Secure?
For anyone who owns and operates a website, there is nothing more terrifying than the thought of one day, opening your site to find it defaced or even wiped out by a hacker. All your hard work gone in an instant. Your brand will surely take a hit as people would think you are not a good enough businessman to have foreseen using proper website security. This type of damage cannot be quantified but, it can be messy.
In order to protect your website and your brand, you need to set proper cybersecurity measures to deter would be attackers. Here are some of the most important ways to keep your website secure:
Back Up your Website
Backups play a huge role in overall website security. If you have regular backups for your website and the worse does happen, you can simply delete everything on the server and re-upload your backup. Simple and easy solution to solve the problem of an attack. Of course, there are still downsides to this.
First, it is a reactive solution. This means your website was still breached and even if you put it back without improving the security, this can happen again. And secondly, depending on the size of the website this can take some time to re-upload which means your website would be done for at least a few hours which is not good for your customers and potential customers.
Use HTTPS
HTTPS is a website protocol that states the website has an SSL certificate which is an important component to any website security. Basically, the SSL certificate is composed of small data files that when installed to a web server, it allows for secure connections from the server to the browser in order to protect any and all sensitive data transferred between them such as credit card information and personal data. This creates a powerful layer of security as it binds together the domain name, host name, server name, and even the identity of the organization.
In 2018, Google Chrome has updated their security which alerts visitors if they are visiting a website that does not have an SSL certificate. This is another reason why you should use this for your website since you can lose traffic by not having an SSL certificate installed.
Use Cybersecurity Software
Most websites today run on a type of CMS such as WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and Magento. These are great tools in managing your website’s design and content. They are all popular enough that third party developers create security software for these CMS which you can download and use. A lot of them are free while some of the feature-packed cybersecurity software may have paid options. Increase your layers of website security by using these software or plugins.
Use Strong Passwords
Passwords are usually your first layer of protection against would-be attackers. If they get this, you are in a lot of trouble. This is why you should ensure that your passwords are strong and do not use the most common passwords such as “123456”.
When creating your password, website security standards suggest using both upper- and lower-case letters, incorporate numbers, and use symbols as well. In this way you create a password strong enough to ward off attackers who try to guess passwords.
The same goes for your email account, hosting account, and CPanel accesses. Make sure you use a strong password in all of these otherwise if one is compromised, the rest may soon follow, and you would have a problem bigger than a downed website.
Password generators are great tools to use to get a good password to use.
Update your Software
When you use software and applications for your websites, it is important to update them whenever they become available. This is because hackers try to find vulnerabilities from common or popular applications and use that to hack websites. To counter that, the makers of these apps send out updates to patch any vulnerability they find so hackers will no longer be able to exploit them. By constantly updating, you protect your website from most known types of attacks.
Ensure your Website Security
It goes without saying that website security is very important. However, the problem is if you are not familiar in how to ensure your cybersecurity defences. If that is the case, fear not. You can always count on VIS Network. We care for all our partners and clients, so we do our best to provide high-quality website security for all of them. If you want to learn more about how we can help your website, contact us by emailing info@visnetwork.com.au or calling 1300 777 847. We are more than happy to accommodate your needs.
