Website security provides multiple layers of protection against cyber attacks like hacking, data breaches, and malware infestation. One of the worst cases that can happen is for fraudulent transactions on your e-commerce site or having your data, especially confidential information, held hostage. Check your site to make sure you have implemented the basic and necessary security protocols that keep your website and all data on it safe and free from all forms of risks.
There have been several of the biggest and worst data breaches in the history of the Internet splashed all over the news. In 2016, a cyberheist dubbed the Bangladesh Bank Robbery shocked the world with an illegal bank transfer by security hackers of around US$1 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to several accounts. In 2018, the social media giant Facebook admitted that almost 50 million accounts have been accessed by cyber attackers, exposing personal information, direct messages, and other private data.
If these nightmares can happen to the business mammoths that have multi-million dollar budgets for their own IT department and cybersecurity measures, then the odds are even worse for small and medium-sized entities which only outsource tech services occasionally. A simple malware program can immediately take your website down for hours, or even weeks. An experienced hacker can easily purchase goods from your online shop by using fraudulent bank or credit card info. And a bored cyber attacker may instantly redirect your domain to a porn site or phishing landing pages that collects financial data.
The good thing is that it is so much you can do to strengthen your website’s security and protect your data by investing a little money. You’ve already spent time searching for the best SEO service providers from a reliable review site like BestSEOCompanies.com and making sure your website can be found by your target audience. Now you need to make sure that your clients’ information is safe when they click on your website. Here are several measures to keep you and your clients secure online.
The first thing is to keep all your software updated. Just like your smartphone constantly reminding you to download the latest software updates, it is also vital to keep the third-party software you use for your website, server and various plug-ins up-to-date. An update is usually more of fixing bugs and glitches, and enhancing security. Check if your hosting service provider can also update your software so you won’t have to hire another company to handle other web services.
Next is to use a web application firewall. A firewall acts as your defensive sentinel and blocks any untrustworthy online content or a cyber attack that tries to penetrate your server or website. For both hardware and software, you should make sure your third-party service provider is using a firewall.
Another basic security measure is to use HTTPS, short for Hypertext Transfer Protocol with Secure Sockets Layer, which is actually the secure version of HTTP. It increases security during transfers of sensitive data such as online banking or email sign-in. This allows additional layers of data protection against hackers who want to snoop on servers or networks. Also, browsers including Google Chrome flag non-HTTPS websites as not secure, which may discourage web users or potential buyers.
An equally important web security measure is to get an SSL certificate which is a digital certificate that ensures private information sent to your website is secure and encrypted. When a client signs up or pays through credit card or other payment channels, the information sent travels through different hardware before reaching the destination server. With this, hackers can’t easily steal private information they can use for illegal means.
Then, get a website scanner that checks any potential threats or risks to your website security. This web application looks for malware, detection of SQL injection and any security concerns like server configuration issues in your website so you can address them immediately and thwart an impending online hacking. Also, it performs simulation tests, from simple to complex, to check if a website is vulnerable to cyber attacks and shows the technical details of the results.
From the moment you publish your website to the Internet, you need to be on top of security measures to keep your data safe. These keep your worries away that someone might target your website and make off with your data. More importantly, web visitors and potential clients will feel confident that they can trust your website as they browse through the pages and eventually make a purchase.
