Some Tips for Protecting Your Website from Cyber Attacks

Cyber attacks against websites are becoming more and more common. If you run a business website, you should be vigilant regarding malicious hackers and ransomware. The last thing any online business needs is stolen data. Even those who run non-business type websites, like personal blogs, should not take the cyber security threat trivially. Any website can be hacked and be subjected to data theft. To avoid such a predicament for your website, pay attention to the below vital security tips:

Use a RAID Installed Server

Cyber security should be ensured on multiple ends, including the website, and also the server the site is hosted on. If the server is not physically and software-wise secure, then your website won’t be either. You should only rent servers from web hosting companies that have RAID installed on them. RAID is a security tool that keeps site files protected, even in case the server crashes. If RAID is not included in the package you buy, you should be able to obtain it for a small fee. It’s strongly recommended not to use servers without RAID installed.

Update All Software Regularly

This is an often repeated mantra that a surprising number of digital businesses ignore. All software, for apps, plugins, tools and everything else, on the hosting infrastructure as well as site design software should be regularly updated. Software updates commonly include vital security patches that the developers may not readily announce. Therefore, you should set all software to automatically update. If the server you use requires manual updating, then there should be a person on the team whose responsibility is to keep all software concerning the site regularly upgraded.

Use Only Verified Third Party Apps

It’s common for most websites to use third party apps. However, whatever you use should have security verification. The apps you use should have undergone a recent security validation from a trusted source. You can check with consumer reports sites and well-known software review sites to see if the app you are about to use is verified.

Validate Input Data

Malware and bugs are most commonly hidden in input data that your CMS receives from apps and web users. Therefore, the site administrator should validate all code that the CMS receives by comparing it with the output data to see the two codes match. You can use a tool like Codex to do this and spot out potential irregularities that may indicate a hack or malware.

Sanitise Java Script

Sites commonly face many script attacks like XSS attacks. One way to prevent such attacks is to sanitize script input fields and encode. This is relatively easy to do these days thanks to open-source code libraries like HTML Purifier, xssprotect, and AntiXSS. Do use these tools to keep your website safe from attacks.

Use Complex Passwords for Admin Accounts

This is a simple enough rule but one that many people forget to put to practice. Don’t use simple passwords for administrative accounts on your site. Password phishing is still very common. Use unreadable complex passwords generated by random phrase generators you can get online. Then you should make it a practice at your company to change the password every two or three months. A good password policy will go a long way in protecting your digital business.

Heed the above advice, and you will be able to protect your website against the worst elements of the internet.

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