Seven proven tips and tricks to protect a website against hackers

The Popularity and Need for Websites

In today’s era, it is almost necessary for all businesses to have websites if they want to survive the stiff competition. Having a business website opens doors to new customers and prospects. 

Most business owners seem to understand the essence of a business website, which explains why there are so many websites today. According to a recently-published report, around 71% of businesses now have an online presence in the name of a business website. According to Internet Live Stats, there are over 1.9 billion websites today. 

Website Security- A Nightmare for Every Website Owner

Whereas having a business website is one of the key success determinants, it could also be a reason for your failure. 

Website security is a global concern. Hackers have succeeded in bringing down even the giant websites that seemed almost un-hackable. No website has full immunity to the wrath of the attackers. 

There are many examples of giant corporate websites that have been hacked. For instance, the Equifax website attack in 2017 breached sensitive information belonging to 143 million people. 

Daily motion, one of the leading video-sharing platforms, was also breached in 2017. The daily motion website hack saw hacker extract over 85 million users’ accounts containing sensitive information. 

Brazzers, an adult content website, was also hacked and over 800,000 user names, passwords, and email addresses were exposed. Other giant websites such as Instagram and Snapchat have also been victims of website attacks. These are just a few examples of websites that have been hacked.

If you have a business website or plan to have one, you must always stay vigilant. It is correct to say that website hackers want you to have a website so they can compromise it. 

Moreover, the consequences of a successful data breach are something you are not ready to hear. 

Did you know that 60% of small businesses cease to operate within the first six months of a successful data breach? Now you know.

Cyber security Measures to Safeguard Your Website Against Attackers

You do not have to be paranoid about the cyber security aspect of your website. 

The fact that you have a business website does not necessarily mean that you will be a guest of hackers. You can build a strong security wall that makes your website unreachable to attackers. 

This section will explore some of the best cyber security measures to protect your business against attackers.

1. Migrate Your Website from HTTP to HTTPS

The HTTPS protocol is one of the most vital measures that assures your business of utmost security against cyber attackers. 

HTTPS came as a substitute for HTTP, which had proved less secure because of its lack of encryption strengths. 

HTTP communications happen in plaintext, making it easy for anyone who succeeds in intercepting the communications to read and understand them. However, the case is different for the HTTPS protocol. 

The HTTPS has a secure sockets layer (SSL) certificate. The SSL certificate is the engine behind the encryption strengths of the HTTPS protocol. With it, data is not transmitted in plaintext but the ciphertext. 

A ciphertext can be a text format that has been scrambled and cannot be read or deciphered. It means that even if attackers succeed in intercepting HTTPS communications, they will still not be able to understand the communication since they lack the decryption key. 

However, how can one migrate from HTTP to HTTPS? The answer is simple. Get an SSL certificate. Several resellers offer low-cost or cheap SSL certificates that assure your website of utmost security. 

SSL certificates such as DigiCert SSL, AlphaSSL certificate, Sectigo SSL certificates and RapidSSL certificates, etc. will offer your website the encryption strengths it needs to protect itself from attacks. What is even more exciting about SSL certificates is that other than security, they also have benefits to the website, such as increasing visibility and user trust. 

2. Choose A Smart Password

Many programs and databases on your website will need to be protected with passwords. However, it is important to understand that it is not a matter of whether your website has a password. Rather, the nature of the password you have used matters. 

Previous cases indicate that hackers can bypass passwords and gain unauthorized entry into user accounts. 80% of hacking breaches that have happened in the past involve compromised login credentials. The remedy is to use smart passwords.

You may wonder what I mean by smart passwords. Here are some of the characteristics of smart passwords that I highly recommend you adopt when creating passwords to secure website programs and databases. 

• Combine characters (numbers, letters, symbols) when creating passwords
• Change passwords frequently
• Store your passwords safely- avoid writing them down on pieces of paper or revealing them to second parties
• Use password manager tools
• Avoid using passwords that look obvious such as your name or the name of your favourite football team.
• Make your passwords long enough- eight or more characters would be an ideal length.

3. Frequently Update your Software and Plugins

We have seen that the Equifax data breach is one of the biggest breaches that have ever hit a corporate website. 

It is even more interesting to learn how the attack occurred. Attackers leveraged a security vulnerability that had existed in software. Even so, the software update had been availed two months before the breach; only Equifax had failed to make the update.

Equifax is just one of the many websites that have been compromised due to a failure to conduct a software update. 

The reason these updates are made is to address some security concerns existing in software as well as optimize their functionality. 

Failing to carry out the update is like staying with the security vulnerability. Soon or later, attackers will leverage the vulnerability to hit your website with a devastating attack that might leave your business on a sinking ship. 

You must take software update notifications seriously if you wish to survive the tides of website attacks that are currently sweeping the internet. 

You can make your work easy by enabling automatic updates. The updates should cut across the operating system, software, themes, plugins, and extensions.

4. Choose a Secure Web Host

You have probably heard of how the web hosting provider you choose for your website could make or break your business. 

Think of the domain name of your website as a street address and the web host as the plot that “hosts” your website. 

Before choosing the plot to build your home (read the website), you have to do your homework and establish some pertinent aspects of the plot. You do not want to stay somewhere that could potentially jeopardize your security. 

In other words, you must consider working with a web hosting provider that values the security of your website. 

Part of the homework you must do before choosing a web hosting provider is to look at the security features and factors the web host provides. Some of the elements you must check when choosing a web hosting provider include the following:

• Check if the hosting provider offers a Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP).
• Check if the FTP by an unknown user is disabled
• Check if the hosting provider uses a RootKit scanner
• Check if the host offers file backup services

5. Limit User Privileges and Permission

It is a good idea to give all high-level employees freedom of access to all elements of your website. 

You would be tempted to give them administrative privileges thinking they will use the website responsibly. However, this usually turns out not to be the case on most occasions. 

Some privileged employees usually do not think of security when using their privileges. They can easily make mistakes and overlook pertinent security aspects, leading to a potential security attack. 

Moreover, with the rise in insider threats, it is difficult to know whom to trust and who not to trust. 

The best strategy for addressing this issue is to remain vigilant. It would be best to limit the access privileges of your employees. 

Only those with businesses with specific website portions and servers should be allowed access. Doing so enhances security against insider attacks and boosts accountability.

6. Use A Web Application Firewall

The web application firewall is one of the most important security tools that will help safeguard your website against attacks. 

The web application firewall will read every piece of traffic that passes through it and filter out malicious traffic from reaching your servers. 

Most available web application firewalls today are cloud-based and plug-and-play services. The cloud service is a gateway to all incoming traffic, blocking hacking attempts. 

A web application firewall will also filter out other forms of unwanted traffic, such as malicious bots and spammers.

7. Use antimalware software

Malware could bring all sorts of harm to your website. Malware will harm the user experience, while some, such as ransomware, could cause serious financial and reputational damage. 

Antimalware software is best to prevent malware infections from reaching your website servers. The software will scan through your website to detect and remove malware infections, thereby keeping your website secure from attackers. 

To sum it up

Having a business website is leeway to success. However, you have to be vigilant and on the lookout for attackers. It is not easy to know when the hackers will come knocking. 

The best strategy is to have proper security measures that will prepare you to handle attackers when they come. This article has explored some of the best security measures and tips to protect your website against hackers. It is wise that you make use of all measures. 

The more security measures you have, your website will be more secure. Lastly, remember to back up your website data. Data backups will come to your aid when hackers surpass your security walls and manage to access your website.