In October 2016, a DDOS attack affected a large number of websites and highlighted the importance of taking the necessary precautions to maintain a secure website . Anyone who owns a website should consider security. For those who consider their website a business, it’s important to treat it as a priority.
This is doubly true if you accept payments through your website. Every time someone provides you with their credit card information, they’re placing their trust in you and your brand. If a hacker gains access to that information because you didn’t take the necessary steps to make your website secure, then you’ll be betraying that trust.
Cybersecurity is complicated, and not all threats can be avoided. Hackers are often skilled and constantly working to overcome each new security update. However, you can significantly reduce the risk of your website becoming the next victim by taking some key precautions.
The first step to having a secure website is one of the easiest, but one that makes a huge difference. Many software updates are specifically designed to reduce security vulnerabilities . Software designers and cybersecurity experts are in constant battle with hackers to thwart every new attempt they come up with.
Most of the updates, which you receive constant reminders about, are part of that battle. Therefore, it’s recommended that you regularly check for updates to your plugins, your CMS, your e-commerce software, and any other software related to the operation of your website. Taking this simple step will immediately reduce your vulnerability.
2. Use strong passwords and update them frequently Keep all your
A surprising number of people still use basic passwords like “123456” or “password.” Don’t be one of them.
Make sure the password you use to access your website has a combination of numbers, letters, and special characters . Also, avoid using something that someone you know could guess in middle east mobile number list your password; your child’s name or year of birth is too easy for someone to guess. Be creative, making sure you use something different for your website than what you use for your other logins; make sure anyone in the company who has access to the website does the same.
And then do it again in six months. Set a reminder on your calendar to remind you to update your password frequently.
There are online password generator tools, such as Norton Identity Safe , that will help you generate secure passwords with the right combination of numbers, letters, and special characters.
3. Make backups regularly
In case something happens, you don’t want to be stuck rebuilding your website from scratch. Make sure you back up your site regularly, just like you do with your own computer (you back up your computer regularly, right?).
4. Invest in a malware detector
Malware is very common, and not just on the website you might expect. Hackers are interested in infecting any website people might visit. That means your website could be taken down by malware, or (possibly) worse, it could be the means by which malware infects your customers’ computers.
Your best bet to avoid both scenarios is a strong malware detector. Anti-malware programs can quickly detect malware and help you get rid of it before it has a chance to cause much damage. They’re relatively inexpensive considering the risks malware presents, and they’re not that difficult to implement.
5. Be careful with your permissions
How many people have access to your website? Most businesses, even many small ones, need to provide at least a couple of people with access to the website to make changes. Medium and large businesses will often have many more people accessing the website regularly.
The more people you have making changes to your technical seo can also help improve website, the more vulnerabilities you have. Chances are, not everyone using your website needs the same level of access. By using your permissions wisely, you can limit the potential damage that a reckless or malicious act by an employee or contractor can cause.
6. Set up an SSL certificate
If you have an e-commerce website, purchasing an SSL certificate isn’t optional. Your customers need to know you have a secure website before handing over sensitive information. An SSL certificate is the way to provide them with that security.
An SSL certificate isn’t very expensive; it ensures that your websites display a green HTTPS symbol in the browser bar—this is what consumers look for to see if they can trust a website. It adds an extra layer of protection to ensure the details shared with you are encrypted and can’t be easily stolen by cyber thieves.
7. Use AVS and CVV
When you add an Address Verification System (AVS) field and a Credit Card Verification Value (CVV) field to all credit card transactions, fraud attempts are much less likely to occur. You have the opportunity to verify the information a customer provides against the information from their credit card company. This ensures that p Keep all your eople who have stolen credit card numbers bypass your confirmation process.
8. Reduces XSS vulnerabilities
This step is really technical; you may want to consult with your webmaster instead of trying to handle this on your own. XSS (cross-site scripting) vulnerabilities are weaknesses in the code you write that allow hackers to add code to your website that infects your visitors’ devices.
To reduce XSS vulnerabilities, you should validate and sanitize your data . You can also insert this string into your web pages to reduce their vulnerability:
echo htmlentities($string, ENT_QUOTES | ENT_HTML5, ‘UTF-8’);
But this will only work for you if you’re not using HTML. If you are using HTML, running your code through the HTML purifier is your best option.
9. Reduces SQL injection vulnerabilities
Like step 8, this step is probably more the job of a webmaster than a business owner, so ask for help if you find the suggestions confusing.
SQL injection vulnerabilities aren’t as common as XSS vulnerabilities, but they’re still a cause for concern. They allow hackers to obtain sensitive data stored in your database, which often includes information like your customers’ credit card numbers.
All of the top prevention methods here are quite technical, and you can check out the SQL injection cheat sheet for more details on what each defense entails. The top five defenses against SQL injections are:
- Use parameterized queries to help your database distinguish the difference between code and data.
- Use stored procedures that are clearly defined in the database and provided to users, rather than letting them enter them themselves.
- Escape all user-supplied input (recommended only in some cases); this way, the database can recognize any user-supplied information as distinct from the developer’s SQL code.
- Enacting least privilege, which relates to step 5, ensures that users only have the permissions they need and no more.
- Use whitelist input validation. This allows the database to detect any unauthorized input before processing it.
10. Use a DDoS mitigation service Keep all your
Distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks occur when a hacker uses a large number of compromised systems to flood a website’s bandwidth at once. The server becomes overwhelmed and united kingdom data begins rejecting all visitors.
Having a web hosting provider that has protective measures in place is the first line of defense. However, with DDoS attacks becoming so common, making an additional investment in a DDoS mitigation service can further reduce your risk.
Hackers are constantly working to develop new methods to bypass these protections. In addition to putting these ten tips into practice, take some time throughout the year to read up on new security threats and best practices.
The stakes here are high; you need your customers to trust your secure website to consistently perform your job. Make sure you treat website security as the priority it should be.