How to prevent your website from hackers
Seeing as the UK’s digital economy is booming, businesses that operate online are becoming an increasingly attractive target for cyber criminals. For this reason, organisations are being urged to increase their website security, and failing to do so can have catastrophic consequences.
The average cost of the most severe online security breaches for big businesses now starts at £1.46 million, while small to medium-sized organisations can expect to pay upwards of £310,800. So, how can you protect your website against hackers?
Host your website on a stable and secure server
All the information that flows through your company website will be handled and managed by a server. Along with making sure that your site is always online, this server will also process sensitive or confidential information such as the credit card details of customers.
But if your web-hosting provider does not have server security measures in place, you should think about switching. 100TB Dedicated Servers feature enterprise grade hardware firewalls, unlimited SSL certificates as well as physical and biometric data centre security layers.
Keep up-to-date with threats and software
By knowing what threats exist and understanding how to deal with them, you can take a pro-active approach towards website security and always be one step ahead of the game. So, try to stay on point with the latest trends and look to increase your knowledge.
However, your software will also need to be told about new security threats, which means installing updates as and when they are released. Hackers will want to expose the vulnerabilities your site exhibits, which software updates aim to fix.
Toughen up access and tighten network security
Through the admin level of your website, a hacker will be able to see everything, so it makes sense to toughen up access control. This means using names and passwords that can’t be guessed and limiting the number of login attempts within a certain time.
However, hackers may also be given an access route to your website servers through office computers. Once again, this means having a strong password policy that change frequently and are never written down.
Install appropriate applications
In order to read and protect every piece of data that passes along your server’s connection, consider installing a web application firewall (WAF). This will block any hacking attempts but also filter out other unwanted traffic.
While you are at it, think about installing some security applications too. Some are free, while others cost money, but nearly all will add a worthwhile layer of extra protection.
Use encryption but remove auto-fill to protect personal information
Both you and your customers can benefit from greater peace of mind by using an encrypted SSL protocol when transferring personal information between your website and database. Hackers won’t be able to read or access information as a result.
Also, you might want to get rid of auto-fill enabled forms on your website too, as it will be vulnerable to attack if a user’s computer or phone is stolen.