Website Security: Why Is It Important and How Can Your Web Host Help?
Unfortunately, websites are targets for a lot of hanky-panky, ranging from plagiarism, vandalism and identity theft to fraud and blackmail. There is a lot to lose sleep over. Businesses invest a great deal of money and effort into their websites and into building the business that depends on them.
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All sites are at risk, whether targeted or not. Malware, including ransomware,
can end up anywhere once released on to the web or inserted into popular
plugins or software updates. Your domain or email server can also be hijacked
and used to distribute malware or defraud others, who then blame you. The law
can blame you too, and the potential fines are high. For these reasons, security
should always be high on your list of priorities when shopping for a developer
or web hosting company.
Choose Hosting Providers Wisely
It is shocking how many businesses can’t name their hosting provider. That
usually arises because they let a web developer set it up and never questioned
it. Many developers are also hosting resellers, but they are two different
vocations. By all means outsource development, but always take care to buy your
own packages and security solutions from trustworthy sources, beginning with
owning your own domain name – you can explore your options on the names.co.uk web hosting site. Here are some things
good web hosting companies do for you.
Provide Firewalls
A firewall application on your server can block a great deal of malicious and
suspicious traffic from reaching your website. As well as preventing an actual
exploit, a firewall can also reduce bandwidth wasted by malicious access
attempts and back-office time wasted cleaning up spam.
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Provide Backups
Making backups of modern websites is a daunting task – especially if you use a
bulky CMS like WordPress and have a database of products and images. It is much
easier for your web hosting company to perform it automatically. There are
three questions to ask – how often do they perform backups, where do they store
them, and how quickly will they restore them when needed?
How often you need a backup depends on your business, but daily isn’t an
unreasonable expectation, and they should be stored on a different computer to
the one that hosts your website. You don’t want those eggs in the same basket.
Provide SSL Certificates
A Secure Socket Level “certificate” encrypts communications with your visitors
– things like credit card details. Many browsers block websites that lack them
and issue a warning about an “insecure site”. SSL certificates are cheap (see https://www.lifewire.com/cheap-ssl-certificates-and-recommendations-3469539), but they are a hassle to
install, so your web hosting company should do this for you.
Provide Prompt Updates
If you use a CMS, plugins or a programming language such as PHP, installing
patches and updates promptly is vital for your safety. They often close newly
discovered security flaws. They may perform this automatically or provide with
you a one-click install the day updates are released.