Security has become an essential part of webspace. With the intensity and frequency of cyber attacks, a website with no security measures is an easy target for hackers. Web developers and site owners now consider site security as a top priority when creating a website.
Whether you have a small website or a big eCommerce store, there will always be a threat. Website security is critical to prevent the risk of malware and spam.
Hackers can embed malware and steal your data. Some may delete the content of your website, which will affect your site traffic. Therefore, it is essential to have complete security for your website to protect it from hack attacks to secure your site’s data.
Read: How to Purchase a Domain Name and Hosting With Bluehost.
How important is website security?
Website security is not a set-it and forget-it solution. It is a continuous process, which requires a thorough assessment to reduce the risk of malware and spam. By following a systematic approach to website security, you will safeguard user data, business data, and content. For this, you will need to review website security before implementing safety protocols to protect your site.
A. Why Should You Consider Website Security?
Small site owners believe that their website is insignificant, and no one would target it. But, contrary to this belief – in 2013, more than 70% of WordPress new installations were vulnerable to attacks. Though, most attacks were due to outdated software. Besides, most owners don’t know the update feature and don’t care about the security updates.
There are many reasons why you should consider security:
- Your critical site pages may be blank, or hackers can stuff them with illegal links.
- Sensitive information – like customer details – may be stolen from your website.
- Your site could have a code injected that may cause visitors to infect their systems with malware.
- Malware attacks can spread to other websites on the server.
- Admin account information – username and password can be changed, which may prevent you from logging in.
- If Google detects suspicious activity or malware on your site – it will blacklist it and remove it from the search result.
Read: How to install WordPress on Bluehost.
B. Tips for Performing Website Security Check
1. Look for changes in your site
It is essential to look out for any unexplained changes on your website. There could be a sudden link to a strange illegal site or changes to settings you haven’t made.
- Check if there are any new blogs on the site that you have not created.
- If you have a WordPress site, you need to look for WordPress themes and plugins you haven’t installed.
- Check your plugins and theme files, as the malware is often injected into them.
If you connect your website to FTP, you can sort and modify all changes. Also, you must have a backup of your site data and database.
Read: Biggest Web Hosting Mistakes You Should Avoid
2. Use an online tool
One of the simple ways to check your website for vulnerabilities and malware is to use an online security scanner. The scanner will remotely scan your website and identify common issues.
Besides, it doesn’t require any installation and takes a few minutes to scan your site. There are many scanners you can choose from – the most popular one is Sucuri SiteCheck.
This tool will check for malware, blocklists, spam, and outdated software. After scanning the website for issues, it will offer suggestions on how to tighten your website security.
3. Secure your accounts with a strong password
Anyone can break a weak password and hack your site. With a weak password, hackers can get administrative access and make changes to your website. Thus, it is important to use a strong password.
- Your password should have the right mix of upper and lower cases.
- You can use numbers and symbols as a combination.
- Also, don’t keep birth dates and names as passwords, as they are easier to hack.
Use the LastPass tool to create a strong password. It also allows you to store all passwords in a centralised place. This makes logging into different devices/accounts easy.
4. Make sure your site is updated and check your SSL certificate
Outdated software is a magnet for viruses and makes your site more vulnerable to attacks. For WordPress websites, you need to check for the latest updates in the dashboard. That said, most WordPress websites perform automatic updates, so you don’t have to worry.
Like software, your SSL certificate may also be outdated. In this case, the Chrome browser will block access to your website with caution, which may affect your website traffic and ranking. To prevent this, check if your SSL certificate is updated or not.
To buy an SSL certificate, make use of Bluehost coupons.
C. Ways and Tools to Secure Your Website
If you find security-related issues and lapses after scanning, it is time to act on those issues and rectify them.
1. Two-factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication or two-step authentication gives your log-in an extra cover. Besides your usual username and password, you will need a piece of information to log in. It is like adding a unique additional code. Two-factor authentication can be a digital code sent to your phone, or it may require email verification. In WordPress, there are plugins like Two Factor Authentication that can help add this functionality to your site.
2. Web Application Firewall
Through a web application firewall, you can use rules to filter out the traffic on your site. It helps you block the IPs associated with hackers or DDoS attacks. It is best to apply a web application firewall at the server level, and it is available as a cloud-based service provided by Cloudflare.
Read: Difference between Dedicated IP vs Shared IP
3. Prevent DDoS and Brute-force Attacks
DDoS attacks slow down a website with many bogus requests, which makes it difficult for users to access it. To prevent DDoS attacks, you can use a web application firewall and customised anti-DDoS software. Apart from this, you can disable the rest API for users and xmlrpc.php to prevent all third-party apps from accessing your site.
Just like DDoS, a Brute-force attack can guess your admin password and hack your website. To prevent a Brute-force attack, you can use two-factor authentication and change the login page of your URL. You can set up an activity log for unofficial login attempts or limit the page login attempts.
4. Connect over SSH or FTP
At times, you will need to connect your site via FTP to modify the files at the location. For this reason, it is best to use SFTP over FTP as the former is more secure. The FTP data is not encrypted, so if the user manages to intercept a connection, the user can see everything from your file uploads to login credentials. Moreover, you can consider SSH access that allows you to have a stable connection through command prompt to manage your site directly.
The Final Checklist
Apart from the above-mentioned website security tip, you need to know about some popular security tools:
Secure Your Site Now,
You cannot overlook the importance of web security in the current age when hacking and cyber attacks have become rampant. You can protect your website against malware and spam by following the above tips and planning a strategic security framework for your website.
- It is vital to update your website and have strong passwords.
- Do follow the strategies of one site-one container. The strategy implies hosting sites on different locations rather than a single server.
- For comprehensive security cover, limit your login attempts, user access and change CMS settings if you use WordPress.
- Take regular backups of your site and install an SSL certificate for added security.
- Lastly, install website monitoring and scanning tools.
Your choice of web host is crucial for the success and growth of your website. A professional-looking website hosted on a reliable hosting platform will attract potential customers and get you more sales.
Are you among those who get confused between Web hosting and Domain name? The two things are co-related but different.
Are you among those who get confused between Web hosting and Domain name? The two things are co-related but different.
It is often a tough call to make between Web hosting and WordPress hosting as both have their pros and cons. Web hosting provides an ideal solution for new websites and start-ups, and the premium plans are great for big websites. WordPress hosting is the correct choice for self-hosting blogs.
