Want to Make Your Website Hack-Proof?

We live in a world that is increasingly going digital. Internet that serves as a stream of information has about 4.479 billion active users in the world right now. Businesses are now embracing the change from physical stores to online stores. Most businesses do not even have a physical store. Instead, they now operate through virtual stores. The ability to connect to anyone across the world proves a big advantage.

Now you can sell your services to anyone in the world. All of this is made possible by websites. Many opportunities have surfaced with an increased demand for website development. Email marketing, social media marketing, SEO and so on. While you are embracing this change, it is important to know about certain threats that are out there. Certain criminals are always looking to target websites for their agenda. Some of them might be financially motivated and some politically.

According to a report, there are 2,244 instances of hacking each day. In addition to that, out of 13 web requests 1 leads to a virus or malware. Businesses have increased their spending on measures to counter the threat to their websites. Cybersecurity spending is said to reach $133.7 billion in a couple of years.

1. Ensure Security Certificates

HTTPS is the secure form HTTP used by the browser to communicate with websites. You might have come across a common pop up warning you about unsecured connection. Well, that means the website is using the unsecured HTTP.  Running your website on HTTP can hurt your visitors’ privacy. The green lock sign tells your visitors that the website is safe to browse.

It is also a sign of confidence for your visitors that they can safely login with their credentials. HTTPS is especially critical for the online stores which deal with financial data of customers. Websites with HTTPS use SSL or TLS to transfer the data securely. It seals the flow of information between the website and the server.

With this layer of security, personal data of your clients may be accessed by hackers. Google’s update also warns visitors of potentially harmful websites. It can affect the traffic of your website and hurt your visibility in search engine result pages. SSL certificate is one of the deciding factors in a website’s ranking. SSL certification does not cost a lot so it shouldn’t be an issue.

2. Security Plugins

Websites built on content management systems have an added layer of security. CMS platforms have security plugins to prevent hacking attempts on websites. Most of them are free of cost. One of the benefits of these plugins is that they deal with the weakness of CMS platforms. Also, services like SiteLock can also be useful to deal with hacking attempts.

It locks the backdoors in your website’s code. It also provides regular monitoring to make sure your website always has its guard up. Unauthorized devices and accessories are a major source of malware. You should also invest in proper accessories like outdoor cat6 cable to allow for maximum working of your equipment.

3. Updated Systems

If your website is built on the open-source platform, its code could be easily accessible. The reason is there are a lot of people contributing to the platform. This is one drawback of using a CMS to build your website. One such example is WordPress. When there are so many people contributing to the code, it is possible to have some loopholes. A report suggests 90% of hacking cases are on WordPress-based websites. Hackers are always looking for loopholes in scripts that they can exploit. But all is not doomed. The open-source platforms like WordPress regularly issue updates to deal with weak scripts. These updates come with the latest security protocols to fight off hackers. You should ensure that all the themes, plugin, and apps are running on the latest updates.

4. Avoid Over Simplified Passwords

According to the latest report, passwords to about 0.5 million servers were leaked online. It has become easy for hackers to compromise passwords as artificial intelligence is becoming more accessible. Also, people tend to use the easiest information they can remember as their passwords. Every year a list of dumb passwords is published online. According to this report, “123456” and “password” are still the dumbest and most used passwords.

This is the simplest thing that can get you hacked. If you wish to make your website hack-proof, you need to be smart about it. Put a little more effort into choosing your passwords. Try a mix of different digits, special characters, and letters. Never use your personal information like date of birth, kids’ names, and pet names, etc.  The same is true for all the people who have access to your systems. Also, set up passwords that have time-limited expiry. Using the same password for too long can also help hackers to crack it.

5. Error Messages that Reveal Too Much

The error messages displayed on your website can sometimes reveal more than they should. It can help cybercriminals to understand where your website has its weakness. This way they can target the loopholes in your website’s code. Always keep the error messages as simple but be smart enough as well. Error messages can be used by hackers to inject SQL script in your website’s code. A well-planned error message can help your visitors in understanding the issue. It is an important step in web and app development.

Conclusion

It is important to understand that even most protected websites can be target by hackers. Every day about 4000 well-run sites are infected by malware, according to Google. Small businesses get targeted the most due to their weak cybersecurity. You should hire the services of professional cybersecurity experts if you are dependent on your website. While you do it, yourself having some understanding of these security measures will come in handy as well.