Every day, security on the internet becomes more and more important. Many people assume that their website doesn’t have much important information on it to be worth hacking. However, hackers are everywhere online with the tools to hack into any type of website. Anyone who has a website should be concerned with their security to prevent it from getting into the wrong hands. Fixing your hacked website is also more expensive than protecting it, so it’s important for you to be proactive. Keeping your website secure doesn’t have to be a lot of work, either, it can be as easy as doing something like choosing a safe website builder.
Not only does cybersecurity help keep your website safe, it helps keep users on your website safe. People online are at constant risk, so it’s important that they can feel safe on your website. Websites that collect important information from users, like birthdays or credit cards, are especially at risk.
Follow these tips to help keep you and your users safe online.
Switch to HTTPS
If you’re using HTTP, you should get started to make the change to HTTPS. This is easy for you to tell which you have because it’s listed in your URL. The added “s” at the end tells you that the site is secure. Users will also easily be able to tell if your website is secure or not. They’ll also get a warning if your website isn’t secure, which can quickly cause them to leave your site. Google also uses HTTPS as a ranking signal so that users will be getting the safest results first. You can make the change to HTTPS buy getting a certification, which can be applied using a plugin if you’re using WordPress.
Install security plugins
Tons of people love WordPress and it’s the most popular CMS choice for websites. While this is loved by many, websites made with WordPress are some of the most commonly hacked websites. If you’re using WordPress, one easy step you can take to keep your site secure is installing a plugin. There are plenty of plugins available that work to keep your website safe. Many options are also free, so there’s no reason not to add these for protection. Plugins have a few different ways they can secure a website, like securing a login page or creating a firewall.
Ensure that everything is up to date
When was the last time you checked to make sure your platform and software were up to date? If anything isn’t, this makes your website very easy to get hacked. Outdated software creates flaws that make it easier for hackers to break into. Anytime a new version is available, you should update it as soon as possible. If you use a CMs, you’ll likely be notified whenever a new version is available. When you’re installing anything new, you should also check to make sure that that is also up to date. If any plugins haven’t been updated in over a year, you should take that as a sign to stay away from them.
Monitor user access
It’s common for multiple people to have the login information for a website. No matter what the website is for, this is usually unavoidable and most people don’t really think anything of it. If other people have access to your website, it’s important that you keep track of them. Multiple users make it more likely for your website to be broken into, even if none of the users have malicious intent. You should also teach the importance of cybersecurity to anyone who can log into your website so that they also understand how to keep it safe. It’s possible that you might need someone to have temporary access to the website, in which case you should make sure to get it taken care of once they no longer need it. If someone needs temporary access to your website for a task like guest blogging, you should make sure they don’t have full administrator privileges, if possible.
Keep passwords secure
You might think that making a good password is common sense, but it isn’t all that common. A weak password is one of the easiest ways for someone to hack your website. Your password should be longer than 12 characters, at least. You should also be sure not to reuse any passwords. Programs can guess your password in a few minutes if you’re using words from the dictionary, so it’s important that you include random characters.
