Not having website security is a common mistake website owners make. Most people don’t think of website security. They launch a website and work hard to make sure it’s successful, only to have malicious attacks negatively impact progress. Usually, after a site has been plagued by spambots and malicious attempts to hack it, that is when people realize something critical is missing – website security.
What is Website Security?
Website security refers to any action taken to protect a website, its data, and transmissions. It prevents the exposure and interception of information, so cyber criminals do not exploit it.
What Kind of Website Security Do You Need?
Your website security package or solutions should include the following tools.
SSL certificate – SSL protects the data that your website collects and transmits to ensure information isn’t exposed. Today SSL is a search engine ranking factor, and web browsers label websites as ‘insecure’ if they don’t have SSL.
Website scanner and threat remover – The faster you detect a cyberattack, the better. A website scanner scans for malware and other vulnerabilities daily to remove them or alert you of any vulnerabilities that require mitigation.
Web application firewall (WAF) – This is a firewall that prevents automated cyberattacks carried out by bots. These attacks can slow down or crash websites and normally target businesses or sites that have inadequate website security.
Daily backup – Backing up your data can expedite recovery in the event of a breach and problematic errors. Set backup frequency to daily, so you’ll never lose too much of your work.
Why Should You Care?
Prevention is better than recovery.
Inadequate website security measures can expose data and puts your visitors at risk. Successful cyberattacks are expensive to recover from and can cause harm to your reputation. Cyberattacks also discourage visitors or customers from coming back. Thankfully, you can prevent a breach with good website security instead of recovering from one.
How Website Security Protects Your Assets and Visitors
Website security protects your assets and visitors in the following ways.
- Prevent malware infections: Malware is malicious software and commonly used to steal sensitive information or distribute spam. Keep them out of your site.
- Prevent and detect DDoS attacks: DDoS stands for denial-of-service, which is a kind of attack that overloads your server with requests, causing the website to crash or slow down. As a result, visitors are often unable to access your site.
- Blacklist suspicious IP addresses: Website security measures such as WAF can block suspicious IP addresses and any suspected malicious activities.
- Prevent defacement: This is a cyberattack that replaces the content on your website with the attacker’s malicious material. Defacement can ruin reputations and steal information.
- Detect and stop vulnerability exploits: Cybercriminals typically test for website weaknesses and exploit them when found, such as an outdated plugin. Strong website security can detect and mend weaknesses by scanning for them daily.
By protecting your website, you protect your customers too. An unsecured website invites personal information theft, session hijacking, phishing schemes, malicious redirects, and much more. Avoid becoming another statistic.
A survey by Accenture revealed that cybercrimes cost Canadian companies an average of 9.25 million last year. And one successful cyberattack can cost your company hundreds in downtime per minute. By contrast, you can pay an average of $10 – $40 per month for website security to prevent cyberattacks.
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