8 tips that will help protect your website.

When setting up a representative website or e-shop, it is particularly important to ensure its security. Nowadays, as digital space is becoming increasingly important for both consumers and businesses, ensuring the right level of security is a must. According to the latest figures, as many as 10.8 million websites are hacked every year, and 30,000 websites every day,

These figures show that inadequately secured websites become easy access for cyber hackers, which can lead not only to financial losses, but also to a loss of customer trust and poorer search results. In this article, we'll give you 9 tips to help protect your website.

The importance of security

Poor website security can have a negative impact on businesses, consumers and customers alike. Here are some of the most common negative consequences:

• Loss of important information. Hackers can steal bank card numbers, phone numbers, email addresses and other important business and consumer personal data.
• Poorer SEO results. Search engines such as Google can blacklist a website. This would mean a decrease in organic (free) traffic and a direct impact on sales and website visibility.
• Fines for non-compliance with PCI requirements. Failure to comply with the PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) may result in a financial penalty. These requirements are designed to protect consumer payment data.

1. Update your website regularly

To help protect your website, it's important to make sure that all the technologies and plugins on your website are up to date. If you are using a content management system (CMS) such as WordPress, it is important that all integrations are up to date. If a new version of a plugin is available, update it.

These integrations and technology updates are designed to fix software issues and security weaknesses on websites, making the website less vulnerable to hackers and cyber-attacks.

2. Protect your website with anti-virus software.

Another important tool for website security is antivirus software, which regularly scans your website to detect vulnerabilities. Website security scanners are tools that check your website files for malware and viruses.

We advise you to invest in professional website security software such as Sucuri. Sucuri detects malware and also has a firewall function which, when installed, filters and blocks suspicious traffic and protects your website from XSS attacks.

3. Install the WAF firewall

WAF is a special firewall designed to monitor and control the traffic entering your website server. When malicious traffic is detected, WAF acts as a barrier to prevent unauthorised traffic from reaching your website. WAF effectively blocks hacking attempts and filters out various malware. This includes bots, spam but also protects against attacks such as DDoS.

Although WAF is a powerful tool to protect websites from cyber attacks, choosing it alone will not provide complete protection. It is therefore recommended to use this technology as one of several security measures.

4. Choose the right passwords

To protect your website, it's a good idea to start with the basics - choose strong passwords. A strong and good password should be at least eight characters long and include a random combination of letters, numbers and symbols. If your current passwords do not meet these criteria, it is recommended that you change to a more complex password.

2-Factor Authentication (2FA) further enhances the security of your data and website. 2FA protection requires additional authentication in addition to the password - for example, a random numeric code sent to the user's device. This additional security makes it harder for hackers to work, even if the original password is cracked. Creating and storing new passwords can be a complex and tedious process. We therefore recommend storing them in password managers such as: Google password manager, passwords (for IOS users), keeper or 1Password.

5. Check your administrator rights

Regularly review and check your administrator rights. A simple but very straightforward task that will keep your website secure. Check who has access to certain functions and data, this reduces the risk of data leaks. Controlling administrator rights will help to keep your site and user data secure.

6. Install the SSL certificate

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate encrypts the data that is transmitted between the website and the server, thus protecting the information from unauthorised interception. Users' personal information such as passwords, payment or other sensitive data remains inaccessible to cyber criminals.

In addition to technical protection, an SSL certificate has a positive effect on the visibility of your website in search engines. "Google and other search engines prefer websites with an SSL certificate.

7. Backups

Regular backups allow you to quickly restore your website data after a cyber-attack or technical failure. By generating backups, you reduce the risk of data loss.

Having backups contributes to the overall security of your website by reducing the risk that cyber-attacks or system failures will cause irreversible damage. This is an important step that will help protect both your data and the functionality of your website.

8. Choose a reliable hosting provider

Choose a quality hosting service to ensure that your servers are constantly maintained, protected and your website is backed up automatically. In addition, a reliable hosting service guarantees stable and fast website performance.

Choosing cheap hosting solutions can lead to security problems. Cheap plans often have higher vulnerability rates.

Final word

Making sure your website is secure is important for every website owner. By implementing basic security measures such as regular updates, anti-virus programs, SSL certificates and choosing a reliable hosting provider, you will ensure that your website remains safe and secure for visitors. These investments will not only protect your website from cyber-attacks, but will also contribute to better search results, increased customer trust and online success.

Adisoft's web development specialists take care of all aspects of security to give you peace of mind and reassurance that your website is running smoothly and securely. We also offer monthly website maintenance plans that include all website security work.