Top Web Security Practices Every Website Owner Should Follow

There are over 30,000 websites getting hacked every single day. And this number is gradually increasing day-by-day.

So why do these security attacks happen? The reason is that there are vulnerabilities in the website that the owner themselves doesn’t know. All the hacker needs to find is a small gap in the web security to steal the data.

In this blog, we will tell you about important web security practices that you should start using to keep your website safe from cyber attacks. 

Top Web Security Practices That Actually Work

1. Always Use HTTPS – Not HTTP

When it comes to web security, the first rule is to make sure that your website uses “HTTPS”.

In order to use HTTPS on a website, you need to get an SSL certificate. This certificate is meant to encrypt the data traveling between the website and its visitors. The encryption process makes sure that data is converted into an unreadable format that hackers cannot read.

Therefore, buy an SSL certificate from your respective hosting provider. Then install it on your website to use HTTPS.

2. Use Strong Passwords and Two-Factor Authentication

One of the biggest problems in web security is using weak passwords. With advancements in technology, hackers use particular tools that can crack the passwords in seconds.

Here’s how you can create a strong password:

• Make it at least 12 characters long.
• Use both uppercase and lowercase letters.
• Also include numbers and special characters like “@,” “#,” and “$.”
• Never use a common password like “admin123.”

Following the use of strong passwords, you should turn on two-factor authentication (2FA). This is an extra layer of security that one must go through in order to gain access to the website admin panel. Example: Phone login, code login.

3. Keep Your Software, Plugins, and Themes Updated

Hackers keep looking for websites that use old technology or versions. Especially, websites made on WordPress need to regularly update the plugins and themes to the latest versions to avoid data breaches.

In every update the developers include security patches to keep your website safe from hackers. Avoiding these updates can result in causing harm to the website.

What to do:

• Update your website’s CMS when the new versions come out.
• Delete any unused plugins or themes.
• Turn on the automatic updates option.

4. Backup Your Website Regularly

Creating a copy of your website is a great practice because in case your website gets hacked and gets deleted, you can simply restore your site with the copy that you have created.

Thus, make sure to regularly backup your website data and code.

Tips on how to take backup:

• Backup your website at least once a week.
• Store backups in a separate location from the server.
• Use backup plugins or a backup service provided by the hoster.

5. Install a Web Application Firewall (WAF)

Having a Web Application Firewall (WAF) can help guard your website from hackers. It constantly monitors the incoming and outgoing traffic of the website. Anything that looks suspicious is identified and blocked.

A WAF can protect you from:

• SQL injection attacks
• Cross-site scripting (XSS)
• DDoS attacks 
• Malicious bots

Use services like Cloudflare to add a strong WAF on your website. There are also providers that offer affordable WAF plans.

6. Control Who Has Access to Your Website

It is important to note that everyone on your team doesn’t require complete access to your website. Ideally, full access to the website admin panel should be given to 1-3 trusted people for small organizations and 5-10 people for large organizations.

To make it more simple, you can follow the principle of “Least Privilege”. This means giving access to things required for the job. For example: A blog writer should be given access to just adding, editing, or changing a blog post. 

In addition, conduct a review of your website user account. Remove the unwanted accounts and provide only necessary access to each user.

7. Scan Your Website Regularly for Vulnerabilities

Constantly conducting security scans can help find the weakness in the website security. Scanning is important because without knowing the problem you can’t fix one.

Security scanning tools check your website for:

• Malwares
• Outdated software 
• Misconfigured security settings
• Suspicious files or unauthorized changes

Tools like Surcuri SiteCheck or MalCare are used for scanning websites regularly.

8. Secure Your Login Page

A website’s login page is the priority target of any hacker. The hacker uses password attacks or SQL injections to get unauthorized access to the user account.

Here is how to protect it:

• Change the default login URL 
• Limit login attempts 
• Add CAPTCHA 

9. Monitor Your Website Activity

Watching over your website’s activity can help identify crucial problems. If there’s any unusual activity, like a login from another device or an immediate increase in traffic, you can know and fix it.

What to do:

• Use activity logs to track activity.
• Implement monitoring services to get updates and notifications related to your site.
• Do a weekly or monthly check of server logs.

How AppleShineTech Strengthens Your Web Security

While website owners are able to fix surface-level security like SSL, firewalls and passwords, they still struggle to protect and manage cryptographic keys.

At AppleShineTech (Thales Implementaion Partner), we offer business owners advanced cyber security solutions like Thales Key Management Solutions and HSM modules that are specially designed to help businesses safeguard their cryptographic keys.

Thus, using an integrated system of both HSM and KMS can help make your website invulnerable and safeguard your data.

Get your HSM and KMS solutions today at AppleShineTech.

Conclusion

In conclusion, following the above-listed practices, you can protect your website from hackers and cyber criminals.

But these practices alone are not enough. Along with these practices, you should use powerful tools like HSM and KMS solutions to manage and securely store your cryptographic keys.

FAQs

Q1: What is web security?
Web security refers to protecting your website networks, server and data from hackers causing harm to your website.

Q2: How often should I update my website’s software?
You should update your website software as soon as the new version is available. Use the latest plugins and themes. Also, turn on auto updates to automatically update them to the newest version.

Q3: What is two-factor authentication?
Two-factor authentication (2FA) is an additional security level that one must pass through to login to an account or access data.

Q4: Why should I use Hardware Secuirty Modules and Key Management Solutions?
Using a Hardware Security Modules (HSM) and Key Management Solutions you can protect your cryptographic keys that contain sensitive data, preventing them from getting stolen or lost.

Q5: Is a free SSL certificate good enough for web security?
A free SSL certificate is good for basic web security. But using a paid SSL provides various layers of security to protect your website.

Related blogs:

Top Cybersecurity Tools Every Company Should Use
What is Cybersecurity and How Does It Protect Your Digital Data?