You might have just got a brand new website done for your business and must be very proud to flaunt it to customers/friends. Being so, you do not want to see it hacked the very next day or receive threat messages from hackers. You might not be very tech-savvy; still, you can stay alert with some very less but useful precautionary measures. The agency might have developed you a high-end chic website but it is always up to you to guard it against any possible attacks.
Most of the hacks fall within opportunistic attacks. This means that it is not any one individual that is trying to hack your website, but rather a coincidence. Something about your site was randomly caught by the trailing net as it crawled the web. It could have been something simple like having a plugin installed, or maybe the version of a platform. It can be any type of website, the only common factor being that it is connected to the web.
If the crawlers identify the website is running any exploitable software (i.e. software vulnerabilities or bugs in code), the site will be marked for the next phase of the attack, exploitation. The sequence of events can happen in a matter of minutes, days, or months.
Websites are like pets and they demand a long-term commitment. They need constant care and attention. Dedicating boat-loads of resources to your website is no guarantee either. Even the security experts get hacked. It is always advisable to follow the best practices. I can enumerate a few for you below:
- Stay up to date: Even the simplest websites are created by people and they contain errors or bugs. You should know the components your website relies on, keep tabs on the known issues, follow the security lists and get the latest stable versions of the software.
- Limit access to resources: Lockdown the access to only the resources that need access. Harden your site all three levels: the operating system, the webserver, and the web application itself.
- Use strong passwords: This is something that we come across almost daily and needs no explanation. For extra website security, it is a good idea to salt the passwords, using a new salt per password.
- Backup your site: The rule of thumb is that you should have routine backups of your site.
Most CMS (back-end content management systems) have a lot of inbuilt websites security features, but it is still a good idea to have knowledge so that you are covered. We hope your website information stays safe with the tips.