We are now in the digital age, where websites serve both as the foundation of businesses and a platform for individuals. Cyberattacks have also become more common with the development of technology and the internet. Hackers may exploit the weaknesses of your website to gain unauthorised access.
Today, it is essential to stay safe in the digital age. You must take your website’s security very seriously, and put in place protective measures for it. In this article I will provide eight tips on how to protect your site from hackers.
Secure your website by securing your website!
Hacking is a constant threat to websites. Hacking is usually done to identify software vulnerabilities that can be exploited in order to hack into websites. It is important to implement website security to protect your website against hacking and data breaches.
Eight tips to protect your website from hackers
1. Update your software
Even the most well-established apps can launch with security flaws unpatched, exposing websites to attacks.
It is therefore essential to keep all software up-to-date to ensure that your website remains secure. It is important to update your software as soon you are aware that your website uses a vulnerable version.
Additionally, frequent updates give you access to all the latest and most advanced features.
2. Use secure passwords
To ensure the safety of your account, you should also encourage your users to use strong passwords.
You can help them protect their data by requiring that passwords be eight characters or longer, contain an uppercase letter and a number.
To give users an idea of the strength of their password, web developers should include indicators on their registration form. A random password generator can be added by a user who is not sure how to create their password.
3. Setup HTTPS
Communication between your website, and the browser of the user can be encrypted using a security protocol known as HTTP secure. This is also known as HTTPS. This prevents hackers from using sniffer tools to steal private information, such as cookies, passwords and login details.
Enabling HTTPS is easy, as most hosting companies have their own tools. You can set up HTTPS easily and quickly on your own. You only need to copy the files required to your server, and make sure the correct lines of code are added to your site.
4. Use only trusted plugins
WordPress users will install any plugin that they can find, particularly if it is free and has all the functionality required.
This is because plugins often have access to the files and databases of your website.
Your website could be infected by malware, as these plugins can insert malicious code. It is therefore best to only use WordPress plug-ins which have been approved by WordPress and are created by reputable brands.
5. Upload files to monitor
Even though it might seem harmless, allowing users to upload files to your site can pose a serious security risk. These files may contain malicious scripts which, if executed on your server could expose your entire website.
Every file upload should therefore be monitored with the exact same level of suspicion, regardless of file extensions, since these can be easily spoof.
The best solution is to prevent immediate access to the files. You can also minimize the risk of data compromise by storing your files in a different directory than the root of the website, where no one has direct access.
Remember to restrict physical access to the server.
6. Remove HTML from forms
Form submissions must be stripped of HTML and encoded to prevent XSS attacks (cross-site scripting).
Cross-site scripting attacks (XSS) can inject malicious JavaScript into your web pages. These attacks run on your users’ computers and alter the content of the pages, or steal data to send back to the attacker.
7. Employ queries with parameters
SQL injections can occur when your website contains a URL parameter or web form that allows users to enter information. Protecting your website against such attacks is important because if you leave the parameters of a field too open, someone can insert code and gain access to your database.
Parameterized queries can be used to prevent SQL injection attacks. You can prevent an SQL injection attack by using parameterized queries.
8. Do not reveal too much information in your error messages
Hackers may use the information from error messages to launch a more targeted attack on a site.
If you are performing a brute-force attack on a login screen, you can let the attackers know they have the correct username/password by mentioning the common error messages “incorrect username” or “incorrect password”.
Sending a message such as “incorrect password or username” when one is correct and the other incorrect will not provide any further information.
It is important to keep your users’ information private. Give users only the minimum of errors (e.g. API keys or passwords for databases). You should be careful about the amount of information that you include in your error message.
The conclusion of the article is:
In the digital age, website security is now more important than ever. By implementing these 8 security features to protect your site from hackers, you can reduce the risk of a cyber-attack and keep both your website and visitors safe.
Keep in mind that maintaining your website’s security and being cautious are the keys to avoiding hackers. It is vital to secure your website, not only for the sake of your business, but also because it affects your users’ trust, their data, and their privacy.
Invest in website security to protect your site from hackers and malicious attacks.
