Website Security for Business Owners
Securing your website is of utmost importance for any business. Your website is what connects you with your customers. Hence, having a website that not only ensures trust but also gives a sense of secure browsing is important for your business relationships. Something a lot of business owners don’t realise is that there is always a risk when dealing with business online.
Unfortunately we live in an age where cyber attacks and hacking are all too common for businesses and your website is no different. There will always be risks when having a website, but there are ways to reduce the chances of your website being targeted by attacks.
There isn’t a strict reasoning behind a hacker wanting to hack your website specifically. However, it’s common knowledge that attacks happen simply to find vulnerabilities and test your websites lack of security. It’s essentially a hobby for most hackers and they get enjoyment out of doing it. In most circumstances, the hacker uses automation to find these vulnerabilities and gain access.
Your website among many others take personal information from users, which must be protected, otherwise it is easy for a hacker to gain access and steal that information. This information can include; names, addresses, emails, and in the worst possible case, credit/debit card information.
There are several advantages to protecting your website.
- SEO Improvement – increase your websites security and get better SEO. This can be through your ranking in search browsers such as Google and Bing. Having a SSL certificate indicates your website is secure and search engines like that, so are more likely to push your website further.
- Building Trust – Trust is one of the key factors in having a successful website. If your website is secure, your chances of attracting potential customers or retaining current customers is significantly higher. They will instantly lose trust in your site if they see the message ‘Website is not secure’ so it’s important you secure your website and maintain a good, trustworthy relationship with your customers.
- Less likely to be attacked – This is an obvious outcome if you secure your website, your website is less likely to be targeted by a hack if you have a better infrastructure around your website. Securing your website is only going to make a hacker more frustrated as they will find less or no vulnerabilities to gain access.
Knowing how to keep your website secure is an advantage among other website owners. If you know how to actively secure your website it gives you a step ahead advantage on others.
Update your websites plugins and themes
This ensures that nothing is out of date on your website. WordPress works towards ensuring that they maintain their system to ensure that it is as safe as possible. If you have an out of date theme of plugin this is a vulnerability on your site and a way that a hacker can gain access into your site.
Ensure you have an SSL certificate
By having an SSL certificate it allows secure connections from a web server to a browser. Usually, SSL is used to secure credit card transactions and data transfers. Using SSL certificates is becoming the norm for modern websites.
Regularly change your passwords
You would think your password will always be secure, but this is not the case in many scenarios. Ensuring you update your password regularly is important as it will be difficult for a hacker to track your password using brute force.
We would recommend that these 3 ways are the simplest but most effective ways of securing your website and reducing the chances of vulnerabilities within your site. It remains incredibly important that you take steps to not only protect your website but also the information of your visitors.
There are many threats that exist online, these can be ways that an attack can occur. Ensuring you identify any vulnerabilities before being attacked is important so it’s pivotal to ensure you know your website. This can come down to the people who are responsible for the website’s security. Everyone in the company has an obligation to ensure security measures are enforced but the buck stops at the business owner.
Others who are responsible for monitoring website security can be:
- Marketing managers
- Business owners
- Independent contractors
- Website hosting provider
As a website owner you have a legal obligation to ensure adequate security measures are in place to protect personal data. This is especially important post GDPR and E-commerce websites are targeted more than standard business websites.
Threats that exist online can vary, but it showcases the vulnerabilities a website may have.
Some of these threats include;
- Ransomware – this can literally kill a business if you don’t have a data recovery plan for the website and in-office computers.
- Malware / Malvertising
- Website defacement
- Website plugin vulnerabilities
- Web server vulnerabilities
- Social engineering attacks
- Man in the middle
- Crypto miners
- Most attacks are automated using scripts, tools and Artificial intelligence
In order to protect your website and business, it’s important to put your trust into experts that care in protecting your business from further attacks. You can purchase one of our Ebooks which dedicate to helping your website overcome or prevent a cyber attack.
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Disclaimer:Lacey Tech Solutions publish blog articles to help small businesses. We are not liable for any damages if you choose to follow the advice from our blog.