How to improve the website security?
A website is a valuable asset in today’s’ digital era. It is not just a mere collection of templates, tools and plugins. Website represents the brand, that’s why so many companies, organisation and individuals invest so much to build one. Thus, safeguarding it against any type of threats such as hacking, phishing or malware attack is a must. If security is compromised it can lead to disaster like data theft, hacking, compromising other vital information, etc.
7 Steps to improve website security
Below are 7 things you must do in order to improve the security of your website:
- Regular Update:
Nothing can be worse than outdated plugins and other software tools. Hackers as such look for the instances where a website can be compromised. Hit the update button as soon as any update is released by the CMS, plugins or software tools you are using.
Do not ignore any update notification that appears, they are there for a reason and the developers know the risk of being hacked. Also, sign up for updates or install plugins to sync in any updates.
- Install Plugins and Add-ons from Trusted Developers:
Check for plugins from trusted sources or developer free from any kind of security loopholes. Not all plugins available with the CMS are to be trusted. Some of them may contain malicious code, virus, etc. that can infect the website and provide access to control the website. Vital stats of the plugin such as the number of times it has been installed, number of updates released, etc. will provide the idea as to how secured the plugin is.
- Create Complex, Unique and Unbreakable Passwords:
Protecting your website starts with a unique password. That’s right; it is the first line of defence. Create a complex and strong password that is hard to guess. Never use your birthday, nickname, pet name or ex’s name for a password. A password should be at least 8 characters long, random and unique. A single password should not be used for logging into different accounts or platform. If one gets compromised others will be easily manipulated.
- User Access and Privileges:
Assign different roles to different users according to their job responsibility. Give them user specific permission to log onto the website within the scope of their job. Website administrators can provide access as per the respective role of the website user, such as author, admin, users or editors. They also have control over escalating permission or reducing it as per the job assigned. It will help reduce fallouts lead by compromised accounts. Also, designated permission will deter from any one making changes to the website.
- Change the Default CMS Settings:
CMS platform such as WordPress, Joomla, Magento, Drupal, etc. comes with the default setting change them as soon as they are installed. Changing them help prevent attacks that originate from the default settings of the CMS.
- Server Configuration Settings:
Even though it is technical, but monitoring the configuration files can help increase the security of the website. ‘web.cofig’ files, found in the root web directory are powerful configuration files. They allow administrators to execute server files and enhance the security of the website. These prevent directory browsing and stop any malicious access and viewing of content.
- Install SSL Certificates:
Installing SSL is another way to increase the security of your website. Though they do not protect directly from malicious attacks, they encrypts the transaction of information over the World Wide Web. Not only this they protect sensitive information such as visitor, users, customers and other important private data.
The above steps will not eliminate the security breach altogether but will help prevent most of the automated attacks and reduce the overall risk.
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