We live in an era where digital technology and internet connectivity play a significant part in how people live and perform their duties. Businesses are fully embracing the trend, and it is almost a rare thing to find a company dedicated to success that lacks a website. Websites have become part and parcel of both large and small businesses. Having a website is the first step towards the journey of business success. Websites will bring many benefits to the website owners. They help to enhance your credibility by displaying your brand and the About Us page. A website will also help to improve your online presence. The internet is a hotbed of customers and having a business website is an assurance that you will enjoy a significant chunk of this customer base. A website will also help to promote your business, among many other benefits. You can check recondo prod complete step by step login guide that is working.
With all these benefits being brought forth by merely having a website, it is no doubt that the online retail market is booming. This success does not just come on a silvery platter. Where there is money, there are criminals who are willing to go the extra mile to try and get hold of it. Websites have attracted unwanted attention from cyber attackers and intruders who are continually coming up with a more sophisticated arsenal of techniques to exploit loopholes that might exist in your website’s security structure. The best thing is to put in place measures that ensure the utmost security for your website. To do so, you will need to be aware of some of the common security threats which a cyber-attacker could use to shut your website down and cause serious trouble to your business. Some of the common security threats that could hit your business are explained below;
Common Website Security Threats
- Spam
If you are an owner of a website, especially one with English content, the chances are that you will fall victim to spam. Spamming will involve an attacker placing malicious links or irrelevant content into your website’s web pages or insert links into your website pages that lead to malicious websites. Spam will make your website look suspicious and discourage your website visitors from visiting your website.
- Viruses and Malware
Viruses and malware attacks are some of the most dangerous forms of security threats that could hit your website. Malware is any malicious software-driven into the victim’s system without the victim’s knowledge. Malware attackers will usually aim to gain access to the victim’s personal details or completely shut down the victim’s system for monetary purposes. Some common types of malware attacks include; viruses, worms, Trojan horses, spyware, adware, and ransomware.
- WHOIS domain registration
Another threat that you are likely to encounter is domain name hijacking. Attackers target domain names to steal customer data and information. Hackers can access your domain account by hacking your domain’s administrative email. It is crucial to protect your domain from this dangerous attack. You can do this by ensuring domain privacy or by safeguarding the control panel of your domain.
- DDoS Attacks
A Distributed Denial of Service Attack is an attack staged by website attackers to mess up a website server’s usual traffic. Networks of interconnected machines usually carry out distributed Denial of Service attacks.
- Search Engine Blacklists
What will you do if you visit a website and are greeted with a “the site you are visiting contains malware” warning. You will immediately stop your expedition on the websites. Won’t you? This is how it will be when a search engine such as google blacklists your website.
To protect web visitors from visiting malicious websites, search engines will blacklist websites. This can be distressing for your website.
You being blacklisted means that you are no longer visible. Therefore, your website visitors would not be able to find your website or be warned that your website is a threat whenever they try to do so. It would be best if you strived to ensure that your website never gets into the blacklist. To do so, you will safeguard the incoming traffic, detect all malware threats, and evaluate all external links to see if they could be malicious.
How to Keep Your Website Safe?
You now realize that keeping your website safe is not an option but an obligation you should endeavor to fulfill. The consequences of not doing so can be very devastating. Here are some of the measures that you can take to protect your website.
- Start Using HTTPS
SSL certificate is an essential security protocol that could go a long way into ensuring the utmost security for any website when implemented correctly. SSL stands for Secure Socket Layer, which is the protocol that will give a website the HTTPS status. All communications will be encrypted, making it impossible for intruders to access communication. Only the right recipient who holds the right key to decrypt the communication will do so.
When going for an SSL certificate, make sure that you select one which can secure unlimited domains. They are cost-effective and will save on your time. It would help if you also went for an SSL certificate that is cheaper and affordable, and easy to manage. For example, Comodo PositiveSSL Wildcard certificate meets all these thresholds. It would be best if you considered purchasing it to reap the many benefits that it brings forth.
- Update Your Software
The second website security measure which you should consider for your website is conducting those regular software updates. Ignoring the software updates notifications will put you at risk of identity thefts, loss of money, and essential information such as credit cards, debit cards, login credentials, and health details.
Software updates usually carry security fixes and vulnerabilities that exist in the previous software versions. IT experts and security experts are always on their toes to figure out the existing software versions’ vulnerabilities. They will release an update that addresses these vulnerabilities. Failure to carry out security updates will put you at risk of these vulnerabilities.
We should all learn from the case of the Equifax data breach, where 143 million Americans were affected and exposed their vital details to hackers. The hackers used a known vulnerability that had existed in the web application. The fix for this security loophole was available two months before the Equifax data breach, but the company had failed to update the software. The greatest lesson which you should learn from the Equifax data breach is that you should install the software update immediately they are released and available for installing.
- Choose a Safe Web Hosting Plan
Choosing a reputable website hosting company will go a long way in ensuring that your website remains as secure as possible. You should ensure that the web hosting company that you choose is well aware of the security vulnerabilities that your website is likely to face. The web hosting company should be entirely devoted to ensuring that your website remains secure at all times. For instance, the web hosting provider should undertake regular data backups and offer full-time technical support in a security breach.
- Change Your Password
Passwords are a critical component of every website security. It would be best if you made sure that hackers can never access your servers. Passwords offer this kind of assurance. Using strong and unique passwords is necessary. Strong passwords can withstand attempts to get past them, such as brute force attacks. Unique passwords are those that are only used on a single account. When creating passwords, ensure that you use a blend of both numbers, letters, and symbols to strengthen them.
Apart from just using strong and unique passwords, you should also ensure that you change your passwords from time to time. This will make it hard for an intruder to try and access the passwords.
- Secure Your Personal Computer
Hackers can do anything to access your servers. They can even try to access or steal your personal computer to use it to access your servers. The idea is to keep your personal computer safe and secure, far away from the reach of cybercriminals. For instance, you can use strong login credentials to protect your information from being accessed by intruders. You should also ensure safe custody of your devices to make them inaccessible to hackers.
- Use Tools to Monitor Your Security
The only way to discover security loopholes and vulnerabilities in your system is by conducting security audits and scans. There are many free tools that you can use to monitor and test your website’s security strengths. You can also hire a professional security auditor to monitor the security of your website. When any vulnerabilities and loopholes are discovered, proper measures should be taken to seal the loopholes.
- Backup Your Website
Hackers will always find a way around your security walls. As security measures evolve, so do the attackers. The question that you should seek to answer is what will happen if the hackers succeed in conducting a security breach despite all the security measures you have put in place? The only thing that will save you is security backups. Data backups are like a contingency plan that you run to in case of data loss from a security breach or a technical hitch. To improve your backup files’ efficacy and reliability, you will need to conduct regular data backups.
Conclusion
Websites play a very critical role in the success of both large and small businesses. Websites also come with a myriad of challenges. One of the most significant challenges facing websites is security threats and vulnerabilities. This article has explained some of the common security threats which you should know of. It has also explained some of the website security practices you should install to make your website secure. I will advise that you use multiple measures to strengthen your security measures.
