Ten Security Tips To Protect Your Website From Hacking

Keeping your website safe from hackers is one of the most important aspects of success. Every month, a huge number of websites are attacked by hackers, and a huge number cannot withstand the pressure and become compromised. To be more precise, more than 4000 websites per month (based on the latest data from Google Transparency).

Website security is vital and every website needs to be protected, regardless of  the industry in which the site operates.

Whether it's for entertainment or commerce, there are several reasons why websites should be protected from hackers:

Reputation loss: The less secure the site, the more users will be wary of it. Search engineers can flag a site as potentially dangerous to users if the site does not have the HTTPS protocol. 

Revenue loss: If a huge number of people bypass your website due to security issues, it can lead to huge revenue losses.

Data security:Any data that a user provides to your site must be under reliable protection. Otherwise, this data can be used by cybercriminals against users. In addition, it’s essential to establish maximum protection for purchases if you specialize in providing such services.

Avoid blacklisting: Search engines flag compromised websites as those that can harm users' computers. This significantly increases customer loss and decreases website traffic.

Here Are Ten Tips To Help Keep Your Website Secure.

Tip #1. Make a Regular Platform Updates: Pretty obvious, but no less important advice. Outdated software becomes very vulnerable to malicious attacks. That is why you must carry out regular updates to have the latest software versions. Software updates can be performed on your own or with the help of an outsource web development service. 

Tip #2. Establish Protection From SQL Injections: In simple terms, SQL injection is a process where an attacker uses URL parameters or a form field to manipulate data in a database. To avoid such situations, you should always use parameterized queries. 

Tip #3. Keep in Mind Cross-Site Scripting: In another way, this process is called XSS and means the launch of malicious code into the system. For example, stealing cookie data is one of the most common hackers. That is why you must check the data several times, encrypt and trim all unnecessary HTML - inclusions.

Tip #4. Configure Proper Error Messages: Excessively expanded error messages can lead attackers to decipher certain information. For example, when entering an incorrect username or password, never indicate what exactly was entered incorrectly. It’s enough to show a simple notification "Login or password is incorrect."

Tip #5. Server-Side Validation is Important: Checking the data on the server is also very important to ensure the complete security of the site. With careful validation, you can identify bugs and fields with errors. By correcting them, you will strengthen the integrity of your site's security.

Tip #6. Secure Passwords are Vital: Another fairly obvious, but great way to protect your website. It’s not necessary to create long passwords of 10-15 characters that will be difficult to remember, so 6 characters are more than enough. However, password symbols must contain numbers, uppercase and lowercase letters, and special characters.

Tip #7. Consider Secure Uploading Files to a Server: Uploading any files to the server is always risky. Any, even the simplest file can infect the server with a malicious script. That is why it’s essential to check every file that comes to the server from users. Also, prevent users from running the downloaded files, rename all files, and change their extensions.

Extensions can be tampered, and malicious files can have a double extension, which can be confusing. Follow these rules, and you will significantly increase the security of the server.

Tip #8. Ensure Server Security: If you decide to develop a server by yourself, you need to keep in mind some of the nuances: A Firewall is a must

• Ensure secure file loading system to a server

• Put your database on a dedicated server to make your data secured

Tip #9. Implement SSL Protocol: It’s one of the protocols used to protect websites and ensure secure transmission of data. Strictly mandatory for implementation. It’s worth noting that websites with the SSL protocol Google place higher in the search.

Tip #10. HTTPS Protocol is a Must: This protocol’s distinctive feature is that it’s compatible with the SSL protocol and can be connected to it. This protocol is the most basic for securing websites.

Vitaly Kuprenko: is a technical writer at mobile and web development company Cleveroad. 

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