Your website is valuable to both you and your visitors. To build effective security against malicious attacks, you need a straightforward guide on how to protect your website from hackers.
Keep software up to date
If you haven’t updated your software in years, it can be an easy target for hackers. Those out-of-date systems might not even be compatible with newer versions of your site. This is a big one: if your website runs on WordPress, you need to make sure that you’re keeping all of your plugins up to date. And the same goes for other CMSs and apps that you may be running on the site, too.
Watch out for SQL injection
SQL injection is a type of hacking that’s all too easy to execute. This attack exploits the fact that many websites don’t properly sanitize user-entered data. If a hacker knows how to enter code into a form on your site, they might be able to manipulate your database and steal information or even change your site entirely.
Protect against XSS attacks
Cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities can allow hackers to inject code into your pages and redirect or manipulate visitors. This can be especially bad if you have guest users who may not know they’re being affected by the attack. XSS attacks are often disguised as comments or messages on your site, so visitors might not know that they’re being manipulated by someone else. XSS attacks can also be used to redirect users to malicious websites, so it’s important to use a server that checks for malicious code.
Beware of error messages
Error messages are usually just a warning for you to fix something on your site. But for a hacker, an error message is a golden opportunity to get into your site. If your site has a common error message that a hacker can mimic, they may try to take advantage of it to trick you into thinking something is wrong. XSS attacks often use error messages as a way to redirect your site visitors. Error messages are also a common way to trick people into giving away their passwords.
Check your passwords
Always use strong passwords and change them often. It doesn’t matter how strong your security is if you’re using a password that’s “12345”. You should also be wary of using the same password on multiple sites. If one of those sites gets hacked, your other login details might be at risk, too.
Use HTTPS
If you’re running an eCommerce site, you want to make sure that your site is secure. But that doesn’t just mean having good security on your site — it means your site needs to be encrypted. That means it’s “scrambled” so people can’t read the information as it travels from your site to their computer. Make sure that your hosting company is using secure protocols. You can also use a security certificate on your site to encrypt your connection for extra protection. However, it’s important to note that nothing is 100% secure. So no matter how secure you make your site, it’s possible that it could still get hacked. But by using these tips, you can make it harder for hackers to access your site.