As cyber-attacks continue to rise and get sophisticated, protecting your website and its data should be a top priority as a business owner. Therefore, taking proactive measures to safeguard your website and visitors’ data is essential. Learn the top 3 dos and don’ts of strengthening website security, protecting it, and keeping the data safe from cyber attacks.
According to Exigent, websites are a prime target for attackers due to the sensitive information they often handle. Websites have vital information like personal, financial, and confidential business data. A cyber-attack compromises these data. It can also harm your business’s reputation and cause extensive damage. Therefore, your website must guarantee data protection and security for your digital visitors.
Below is a guideline of the dos and don’ts to strengthen your website’s security.
Dos Of Strengthening Website Security
Below are steps to help improve and strengthen your website’s security.
1. Keep Your Website And Its Software Updated Strengthening Website Security
Hackers continuously look for ways to exploit weak points in websites and software. To counter this, developers release updates and security patches regularly. These releases help fix vulnerabilities and bugs. Furthermore, these releases often contain new features and improvements that can significantly enhance your website’s user experience and streamline your operations.
Staying updated with the latest security patches and updates is a simple and effective way to strengthen your website’s security. You can accomplish this by regularly checking for updates and installing them promptly. You can also frequently liaise with your local tech support company.
For instance, in Edmonton, Canada, you can contact Sunco Communications for various information technology (IT) issues, including website security. Contacting IT experts can ensure your business gets the right website security patches promptly. As a result, you can stay ahead of potential threats, thus keeping your website safe and secure.
2. Use secure Sockets Layer
Using a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate is a crucial step you can take to improve your website’s security. SSL is critical if your website handles sensitive information like credit card details, personal data, or login credentials. Please keep reading to learn the top 3 dos and don’ts of strengthening website security, protecting it, and keeping data safe from cyber attacks.
SSL encrypts data in transit and prevents hackers from intercepting it. It helps prevent man-in-the-middle (MITM) attacks. MITM attacks happen when a hacker intercepts communication between two parties and alters the transmitted data. Such an attack can be hard to detect.
Implementing an SSL certificate can help prevent all this. Once you have an SSL certificate, visitors can see the padlock icon next to your uniform resource locator (URL).
The padlock helps indicate that your website is secure. Thus, you can give visitors peace of mind and protect your website and data from potential security threats.
3. Use Firewalls To Restrict Access Strengthening Website Security
A firewall is a crucial security tool that helps create a barrier between your website and the internet. This barrier allows authorized access while blocking unauthorized ones. It’s the first line of defense against hacking attempts, malware infections, and spam attacks. Firewalls can either be software firewalls or hardware.
Software firewalls are installed in your server or computer and help protect against local threats. On the other hand, hardware firewalls are standalone devices that sit between your website and the internet, thus providing an extra layer of protection.
While they might not be failproof, firewalls significantly reduce cybersecurity risks and protect your website’s resources. Like other tech products, it’s best to update its configurations regularly. These will help ensure your website’s protection against the latest security threats. strengthening website data.
Don’ts Of Strengthening Website Security
While you might take various steps to protect your website, knowing what steps can do more harm than good would be best. Below are a few you should know.
1. Rely Soley On Passwords For Authentication Strengthening Website Security
Passwords are a common form of authentication that help protect access to your website and online accounts. However, relying solely on them can be risky.
Cybercriminals can easily guess, steal, or hack them. This is especially true if your website users reuse passwords across multiple accounts, use weak passwords, or fall victim to phishing attacks.
To strengthen your website’s security, you need to go beyond passwords. One of the most effective ways is using multi-factor authentication (MFA). MFA requires users to provide various forms of authentication to gain access.
This can be through something the user has, like a mobile device, or via a biometric factor like a fingerprint. Overall, an additional authentication step helps prevent potential attacks if hackers manage to steal a user’s credentials. Check more dos and don’ts of strengthening website security, protecting it, and keeping data safe from cyber attacks.
2. Neglect Security Testing And Auditing
Regular security testing and auditing can help identify and address potential security risks and vulnerabilities in your website’s defenses. If you neglect this exercise, you can miss uncovering potential security flaws in your website. As such, hackers can easily exploit them and gain access.
Therefore, it’s crucial to test and audit your website’s security to examine configuration settings and access controls and remediate gaps in your security posture. It also ensures your website complies with relevant security standards like the payment card industry data security standards (PCI DSS).
3. Allow File Uploads Without Proper Validation And Sanitation
You can allow users to upload various files to your website to enhance user experience and functionality. However, this can be a security risk if you don’t correctly validate and sanitize such files. Hackers can use such a loophole to introduce malicious code into your website. This can make your website vulnerable to cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks or remote code execution (RCE).
To prevent such attacks, consider implementing restrictions like file type and size. It would also be best to verify file contents to ensure they don’t contain any malicious code or scripts. You can also use tools to scan for cross-site scripting vulnerabilities, which will automate an otherwise involved process and let you weed out overlooked scripting issues without breaking a sweat. By taking these precautions, you can ensure your website is secure and protected against potential threats.
Conclusion
Website security is an ongoing process that requires vigilance and attention. Therefore, it doesn’t stop with the above dos and don’ts. With proper security measures, you can enjoy the benefits of a secure and trustworthy website that users can confidently visit.
