As more people use the internet for many purposes, including web searches, having a safe and secure website has become more important than ever. You may think, why would someone hack into a small business’s website, but the truth is small business websites are most vulnerable to cyber-attacks. An unsecured website is always dangerous for you and your website visitors. As a website owner, you need to protect your website from hackers. Fortunately, there are a variety of things you can do to protect your website from cyber-attacks. Below, we will start with some basic steps to secure your website from hackers.

1. Use safe and strong passwords:

The first step in safeguarding your website is to create a secure password. All of the websites are password-protected. However, the strength of the password is crucial. Choose a password that is both strong and difficult to guess. A strong and secure password includes a mix of upper and lower case letters, symbols, signs, and numbers. Tools like a password manager can help you create strong and secured passwords.

2. Install security plugins

If you built your website with content management systems like WordPress, Magento, Drupal, and Wix, you can improve the website security by installing security plugins. These plugins are capable of protecting your website from cyber-attacks to some extent. Most of the CMS platforms come with free security plugins. Some of the plugins are listed below

• Sucuri security
• iTheme security
• Wordfence security
• Patchstack

3. Use HTTPS-SSL certification

HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. It is a security protocol used to secure websites. The lock icon next to the web address indicates that the site is secured. The site is secured with the SSL certification. SSL certification encrypts the data transfer between the server and the visitor’s browser. This accreditation is required for websites that need payment procedures and sensitive data. Search engines such as Google regard websites that lack SSL certification to be insecure. Secure your website with SSL certification if you want people to trust it.

4. Use secure cookies

This feature adds a layer of security between the server and the website visitor. The data information in the encrypted cookies is safer from hackers. Secure cookies may only be transferred via an SSL connection, hence the website must be SSL certified to use them.

5. Update your software and website platform regularly:

Updating your software and the operating system keeps your website running smoothly. These updates contain new security patches. Most of the updates require only a system restart and installation process. Website owners mostly ignore these updates, but this is a dangerous practice that can even lead to losing your website. Thus, you should install these updates to secure your entire system.

6. Secure your site from SQL injection

SQL (Structured Query Language) is a type of code that manages and allows people to search for information in your site databases. But the (SQL) is often misused by hackers. Hackers insert specific codes into your database to manipulate and steal data from your site. Hackers get in through URL parameters and form fields to damage the databases. This is called an SQL attack. To secure your website from SQL attacks set up parameterized queries and create secure forms.

7. Limit user permission and access

A website is nothing but a set of folders and files stored in your web hosting account. These are the files responsible for the proper functioning of the site. Hackers can access these files to steal sensitive data from your website. Limit the user’s permission to read, write and execute any changes in the file. Use a strong and secure password for your account. You can also set security permissions to these files and folders. Ensure every user follows all the preventive security measures before accessing these files and folders.

8. Backup your site regularly:

All websites, regardless of size or value, are vulnerable to data theft. In the event of a website hack, the worst-case scenario is losing all of your data. To keep your website safe, make regular backups. If you have a recent backup, recovering your website is significantly easier. You could also consider purchasing an automatic backup solution. The automatic backup mechanism can back up your website without your intervention.

Conclusion

With the rise in cyber crimes, leaving your website without any protection can destroy site data. Most importantly, recovering your website may cost you a lot of money. So give the most priority to secure your website especially, if you run an online business.

Implement the above steps to secure your website from cyber-attacks and data breaches.

As a custom web development company for nearly a decade, Adhoc Softwares have created and implemented various security rules to protect website from cyber-attacks. If you want to develop a safe and secure website for your business, reach out to us.