Securing your website from hackers is one of the most important aspects of website management. Cybercriminals are getting creative daily and looking for ways to access high-traffic websites. They either do it for ransom or repossess a good website for resale. A website owner or manager must ensure their platform is well secured to avert any possible cyber-attack. This article discusses securing your website and why it is important for your business.
How to Secure Your Website from Hackers
- Ensure all your software and plugins are up to date
- Limit how many times one can attempt to log in
- Discourage uploads
- Generate strong passwords
- Consider using HTTPS
- Use a different username for your admin directories
Ensure All Your Software and Plugins Are Up To Date
A complete website comprises several programs and plugins to boost its functionality. These programs need frequent updates to improve their usability. From personalising services, updating the user interface and increasing functionality, these software go a long way in making a website responsive to the user’s needs.
Developers keep on improving their software to match up to the need. Security is also one of the things that they enhance. Therefore, if you do not update the software, it might be the hotspot from which cybercriminals can access your website. To prevent this, ensure all your plugins, programs and software are up to date. If possible, set an auto-update feature on all your software to ensure they do not miss any updates or upgrades.
Limit How Many Times One Can Attempt To Log In
Cybercriminals have developed bots that mine and try to access websites. These bots are designed to try to access a website as often as possible. The more times they try, the closer they become to accessing the website. To avoid this, limit the number of times one can try to access the website.
When this feature is active, it stops the login attempt at the set number and temporarily disables any attempt to access the website’s back-end. It can send an automatic mail to the website admin account, citing fruitless attempts to gain access. The administrator has to prove the account ownership to gain access, including 2-step verification. It is one of the most effective ways to keep tabs on website security.
Discourage Uploads
Uploads are the main cause of virus importation to websites. An account user can unknowingly upload an Excel document, a plugin or a program onto a website back-end, which might encrypt the website. Although you cannot do without uploads, all uploads must be vetted by the website security protocol before usage.
There are also some antiviruses that scan every document uploaded or downloaded to the platform to gauge their risk. However, the best way is to be vigilant on everything you upload and install a credible antivirus to run a security audit every time anyone uploads a document.
Generate Strong Passwords
There is a whole study of password thinking and generation in cybersecurity. It tries to understand what people think when designing passwords. Although it might not pinpoint an exact chronology of character creation, it guides users on how not to think when creating passwords for their platforms.
Search engines have devised an algorithm to suggest strong passwords that no one can guess. It not only makes it difficult to hack into an account but also helps the user store it in case they have to refer it after that.
Consider Using HTTPS
HTTPS is a secure transfer protocol that encrypts communication between a server and a website. It ensures that no one can intercept any data passed between the 2 platforms, deterring hackers from accessing confidential information. Most web hosting services in Kenya have secure HTTPS features (SSL protocol), which ensure safe communication between the server and the website.
It comes free with the web hosting service and encrypts any URL on the website. When purchasing a web host service, ensure it offers SSL as part of the package.
Use a Different Username for Your Admin Directories
Gone are the days when people used “admin” or “info” as the user name for their central email. Hackers can easily guess it and might succeed in hacking the website. Be creative when coming up with admin directory emails. It makes it hard for anyone to guess, which adds a layer of security to your website. There is a whole study on creative directory names you can check out.
