Keeping your website secure can be a tedious, time-consuming task. Many web admins don’t have the time to monitor their websites for unauthorized traffic.
What happens if an attacker makes use of your server? Intellectual property theft, revenue loss, or putting customer data at risk? That’s a serious risk you need to take steps to mitigate.
We’ve put together a quick yet effective list of steps you can take to protect your website from hackers and other threats.
Backups
Based on the University of Maryland, a hacker attacks every 39 seconds (or 2,244 times a day). That’s why backing up your website is essential for keeping your website files safe. A backup is a copy of the data stored on your server. It is usually held on another device or in another location so that it can be recovered if something happens to the original data.
Backups protect against data loss, but they also serve an essential role when you want to make changes to your site. Suppose you wish to update your site’s design, install new plugins or make any other significant changes. In that case, you should always create a backup before you begin working. This way, if anything goes wrong with the upgrade process, you will have an older version of your site with which you can continue working until the problem is resolved.
There are two main types of backups: local and remote. Local backups are stored on the same server as your live site, while remote backups are stored on a different server.
Local backups are faster and cheaper than remote backups. Still, they aren’t as secure because they’re not encrypted during transit and are stored on the same physical hardware as your live website. This makes them more vulnerable to physical damage (such as fire or flood), theft, or hacking attempts by an intruder who wants to steal your data.
Remote backups are slower because they must be transmitted over the internet before they can be downloaded and stored locally. They’re also more expensive than local backups because they require bandwidth from both ends of communication—yours and the backup provider’s— plus additional security measures for encrypting data in transit between locations.
SSL Certificates
The SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate is a digital certificate that establishes a secure connection between your website and your visitors. It’s used to encrypt sensitive information such as credit card numbers and usernames so that a third party cannot intercept the data.
The SSL certificate ensures that all communications between your website and visitors are encrypted. This means that no one can eavesdrop on the data being transferred over the internet, including hackers, governments, or ISPs.
An SSL certificate also verifies that you own the domain name listed on your site. This helps protect users from phishing attacks where a scammer tries to imitate an official website to trick people into giving up their login details or other personal information.
If you’re unsure whether a website uses an SSL certificate, look at its address bar. If it has a padlock icon and displays “HTTPS” instead of “HTTP,” it uses an SSL certificate to encrypt your data.
To learn if your website needs an SSL Certificate reach Stoute Web Solutions for more information.
Passwords
A good password should be long and complex. You should use uppercase letters, lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols in your password. It’s also important to avoid using common words or phrases that would be easy to guess or brute force attacks.
It’s also essential to change your passwords regularly. If someone gets a hold of your password and uses it to access your account, they’ll likely try to reset it so they can reaccess it in the future. If you change your password frequently, it’ll be harder for them to do this without being detected by you or others on the site who know about their activity.
The easiest way to create a strong password is by using a password manager like LastPass or Dashlane. These tools will generate random passwords for you and store them securely so only you can access them.
Updates
Hackers are always looking for ways to exploit software that is outdated or has known security issues. Updating your website software will help prevent hackers from accessing your site and stealing user data.
If you do not update your website software, it can leave a lot of opportunities for hackers to take advantage of. Hackers know how important it is to stay up-to-date with the latest security patches and bug fixes. Keeping your software updated makes it difficult for hackers to access your website’s server. This means they cannot steal information from your customers or use their computers as part of a botnet attack.
Updating your website software also allows you to take advantage of new features and improvements that developers have released. If you do not update your site, you will miss out on these new features, which could improve how well your site performs or how easy it is for visitors to use.
Access
It’s essential to set limits on the amount of access you give somebody logging in to work on your website. If you have somebody working for you and give them unlimited access, don’t be surprised when they hack into the system and start doing things with your customers’ personal information.
Limiting access to the back end of your website is an easy way to protect yourself from hackers and data loss. All your information is stored at the rear end, including customer records, product inventory, and financial data. Suppose someone gains unauthorized access to this area and tampers with it. In that case, you could lose money or even go out of business entirely.
To limit access to your site’s back end, you must create user accounts for each person working on it. You can also set permissions for each user account so that only certain types of information are available for them to view. For example, you might give one person permission to log in and post new blog posts but not allow them permission to edit any existing content.
Get the security you need
There’s no denying the importance of security. People will always be looking for new ways to break into websites and steal your content. As such, it’s essential to implement security measures that keep these individuals at bay. The five points we recommended above are a great place to start when implementing an efficient website security system. It’s not perfect, but it’ll help deter hackers. To help you more in securing your website, contact us today!