October 2021
Your company data is the most important asset to your business. For proper website management, you need to make sure that your website and all its data are protected. We have gathered this list of tips to help you protect your company’s biggest asset.
Tips to Protect your Website and Company Data
Install Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
The best online security for everyone is SSL. When you install an SSL certificate, you protect your website, your personal data, and your website users. The SSL encrypts data such as login information that passes between your website and your users. There are several different types of SSL to install depending on your business and website needs.
Install Anti-Malware Software
Anti-malware software is something that every new website should have immediately to protect your website. The software does the difficult work of the technical part for you, as it knows exactly what to block. There are many anti-malware software programs out there with different options. Some anti-malware programs are free such as Bitdefender Antivirus Free. Other anti-malware software, like SiteLock, comes in packages that have varying levels of protection at different costs.
Create Secure, ‘Uncrackable’ Passwords
A secure password is the absolute best way to protect you and your business from hackers. The key to passwords is to make sure it isn’t something that can easily be cracked. Don’t use obvious things like birthdays that hackers will try with only minimal research. A recent survey showed that 40 percent of businesses said they had been the victim of password hacking and had their data compromised.
Keep Your Website Software Up-To-Date
A website builder can take care of all software updates, plugins, and security matters automatically for you. You can set up these updates to occur on your dashboard. For WordPress users, Best WordPress Hosting Providers is one of the best programs to keep your website up-to-date for ultimate security.
Monitor Your Email Carefully To Avoid Hackers
Hackers also love to attack online via email. It can be easy to open spam when busy and distracted while checking your email. You may unwittingly open your website up to an attack. In fact, an astonishing 92.4 percent of malware is delivered via questionable email, making it the biggest threat.
These security breaches also occur due to human error. A study found that 95 percent of cybersecurity breaches are due to this very thing. How do you fight this human error factor?
- Be aware of public and otherwise shared internet connections such as in cafes and airports. They will never be fully secure, so you must have your own protection from hackers on your system.
- Never click on links inside email that look suspicious. Delete email immediately. Follow this tactic with your personal email, and especially your business email.
- Be careful of who has access to your website. Make sure the admins are people that you can trust, and they are equally security conscious.
- Change any default passwords, settings, etc. To best protect yourself, create new criteria such as your own made-up passwords and settings. Then you can keep track of these changes and make a note with your passwords listed for your personal reference.
- Only trust professionals to do any technical work on your computer, servers, and websites. Make sure the person handling your site is a certified webmaster with a great reputation. You don’t want to hire a scammer to hack you under the pretense of fixing your technical issues.
Accept Website Comments Manually
When your website users are compelled enough by your content to comment, that is helpful for your business. The downside to this, however, is that some of these comments can come from hackers. Spammers use bots, fake accounts, and trolls to place a link to possibly start a security breach. If you allow others to post to your site freely, it potentially opens the door to malicious links and other attacks. This is bad not only for you, but for your website visitors, who could also click on this dangerous link.
To fight this type of attack, change your site’s settings so you will need to manually approve comments before they get on your site to begin with. To keep your comments safe:
- Use anti-spam software
- Ask visitors to register before commenting
- Turn off comments on posts after a short period of time
Run Frequent Backups
After you have completed all the above steps to protect your website, you finish with the all-important backup. When you do frequent backups, you will ensure that you can retrieve the majority of your data. The backups copy all your data including all files, media, content, and databases.
There are several different ways to do backups, depending on your operating system. For websites, great backup services include CodeGuard and web hosts like A2 Hosting, plus many more.
Inner Works Pro can help you grow your business and protect it with our many website management services. Contact us today to get started.