Launching a website is a tremendous and wonderful experience. There’s nothing quite like it, really, because it was at the flip of a switch you now had full control over a platform.
And not just any platform… one where you could share your thoughts and opinions. One where you could start a business. One where you could display your talents.
But what you don’t know could hurt you…
All those hours you spend pouring your ideas and work into building your site and turning it into what it is could come crashing down if you forgot one crucial element: The security.
A Forbes article back in September 2013 reported that 30,000 websites are hacked a day. And that was back then – think of how much it may have risen now?
The following will give you a basic overview on how to protect your website – from start to finish.
1. Research
I want to start this off with “research” because a big part of keeping your assets secure is understanding ways people can gain access to them.
If you were to ask me it comes down to:
- Keeping up-to-date with security issues on the Web
- Educating yourself about common types of attacks
- Using diligence whenever someone approaches you about personal information
If you can manage to take these three actions, on the regular, than you should be able to eliminate a great deal of potential security issues during your time in building, maintaining, and growing your site.
2. Choosing reputable providers/platforms
When developing a website you’re generally going after three main components:
- A web host
- A domain
- A website platform
Use the guides provided here on SmallWebsiteHost.com to get a good idea about what to look for in web hosting. Be sure to understand what security features and options the host has in place and what they’re able to offer in the event of a security issue.
As for the other two you should follow suit.
For domain names I would advise you seek those with great reputation. There are many, many domain name providers (and that choice is yours) but I would recommend you stick to the ones recommended by long-time website owners and professionals in the industry.
The same can be said about the platform. Picking a free website template may come at no cost but do you really now if the code is secure? Even with options like WordPress there are still security flaws (but luckily great developers are there to patch them regularly). Additionally, be aware of those plugins and scripts you’re using too because these are what others might target in their attacks so update, update, and update!
3. Creating a personal policy (and using the right tools)
Remember up above where there’s a whole section dedicated to education? Once you’re up-to-speed about security by setting up the best firewall for small business, you need to make it a policy. A policy in the sense that you do:
- Routine backups
- Routine updates
This also means you need to invest in the right tools on your end so your mistake doesn’t expose all your hard work. The first course of action would be to install security software (such as Titanium Internet Security from Trend Micro) since it will help block most major threats that could expose your private information. The second would be to create strong passwords (that you update regularly) and avoid using them on other websites to prevent a single point of attack. You should also learn about data governance from services like Delphix to avoid losing private information. And the last would be to make sure you are simply protective of your privacy which means you’re not exposing information in public (like in a blog post or status update on Facebook) – the less they know the better.
Conclusion
Do know that because you’re online there are chances that people can gain access to your information. But the point of staying educated, working with reputable companies, using security software, and implementing security policies is that you’ll deter these malicious individuals to the point they won’t bother and move on to the next target. These are all also in place to lend aid if/when a security event happens so you’re left with an action plan instead of a site that’s lost forever.
Your turn – what else would you add to this post to help others understand security and implement it when building a website?
