Qubed Agency logo, logo design services, custom logo design, logo animation
cybersecurity, how to protect a website, secure a website, website security check, website security scan, scan a website

Top 7 security tips to protect your website from hackers

When it comes to marketing your products and services, having an online presence is crucial for your business. Websites are one of the primary methods that help organizations establish a strong online presence.

Having a fully functioning website has many advantages for a business. However, it also opens the pathway for cyberattacks. Yes, you heard that right!

Just like any other online platform, a website is also prone to cyberattacks. Therefore, it is important that, as a business, you have all the safeguards in place and perform regular cybersecurity testing to prevent hackers from targeting your website.

Here are some security tips that might help in this regard.

website security tips, how to secure a website, protecting a site, hacking a website

   1. Regularly update plugins

Outdated software applications, plugins and drivers are some of the most common causes of cyberattacks. Nowadays, even hackers use advanced technologies to break into your systems. So, without updated software platforms, your website becomes prone to all kinds of cyberattacks.

Most businesses are aware of this fact but still ignore it out of sheer negligence. According to a study conducted by the Institute for Internet Security at the Westphalian University of Applied Sciences, out of the total websites analyzed, around 95% of them were using outdated software products.

To avoid getting into situations where businesses intentionally or unintentionally forget about updating the software, they can start creating a schedule for updates. It will enable them to make time for regular updates instead of delaying them and increasing their website’s security risk.

   2. Beef up your passwords

Passwords are like door locks in the digital world. The more complex it is, the better protected your systems are.

It is observed that most businesses overlook this idea of having strong passwords for their websites. As a result, it makes them vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Having a secure password is not rocket science. You just need to have long alphanumeric passwords containing small and large-cap letters.

In addition, to having a strong password, organizations must also put in place a strict password policy. In some cases, hackers use dictionary attacks and brute force attacks to crack the password. With an effective password policy that limits the attempts to enter a password, you can prevent all such attacks.

   3. Migrate to HTTPS

Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) is an upgrade from the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), adding an extra layer of security to your website. As a result, HTTPS helps prevent hackers from tapping into the confidential login credentials of a website.

To update your website to this advanced communication protocol, you need to have a secured sockets layer certificate. Once the certificate is installed, you must redirect all your traffic from HTTP to HTTPS.

This protocol proves to be very useful, especially for websites that have sensitive information stored in them. With HTTPS, all the information that travels between a website and server is completely encrypted, making it impossible for hackers to access and misuse anything.

In fact, due to the advanced security features of HTTPS, even Google uses this parameter for ranking websites.

   4. Regulate access to your site

The main dashboard of the website has crucial information for you to preserve and safeguard. So, only a few important members of your organization should have complete access to it.

In such cases where you need to provide additional temporary access to a few people, you can explore the options of editor access and author access. This segregation of access would mean your vital data are protected even if cybercriminals managed to compromise the editor and author accesses.

In case the users are no longer need the access, website admins need to delete it so that it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands.

   5.Constantly back up site data

No matter how hard you try, keeping your website 100% secure is never possible. There would always be some loophole or the other that hackers can use to break into your website.

However, you as an organization can minimize this vulnerability aspect by keeping a close watch on your website and looking for updates. In addition, you can also constantly keep backing up your website site data.

Storing your website data from time to time ensure that your business-critical information is protected even during the event of a cyberattack.

   6. Always Use VPN

VPN or virtual private network (VPN) is a secure private tunnel that creates an encrypted connection between devices. These internet security services come in handy for businesses that have remote employees.

Remote employees use public internet, which is not always secure. So, VPNs create a secure communication network between the company’s server and the employee’s device. It helps businesses protect their privacy and sensitive information from cybercriminals who are always on the lookout for some website vulnerabilities.

Besides security, a VPN provides an additional benefit of letting its user access content that is geo-restricted overseas. It helps businesses owners run their websites safely from anywhere in the world.

   7. Get Domain Privacy

Whether you purchase a domain directly or through a website host or a website design agency, your private details are placed into a public database. Having your details such as name, address, email, and phone number open to the public can make your website and business susceptible to cyberattacks.

However, there is protection available in this case.

All domain registrars offer domain privacy services. It comes at a small price, but it provides complete privacy without changing the domain ownership.

Key takeaways

With all this information at your disposal, you as businesses are aware of the risk and the preventive actions that you need to take. However, not all organizations possess the expertise and experience to verify and validate the security parameters successfully.

Without proper security testing, your website would continue to be vulnerable to cyberattacks.

Speak to an expert today!

before you go...

can we help you
with anything?