Top Essential Security Measures Every Website Needs in 2023

All website owners around the world must note that security is the need of the hour. Be it customers, employees or any stakeholder, all of them expect to have a safe website. Therefore, this article is there to help you out for creating a safe and secure website.

There are no such preventive measures guarantee you strong security. As the growing cyber world leads to growing cyber security threats also. However, some of the tips and techniques that are mentioned below will lead to you a better path.

A path that gives you an idea about the journey of a safe and secure website. So, why should you wait more? Just read the article and gain most of the knowledge.

Points to keep in mind

Select a password that is smart enough.

Usually, people stay the same password at many places, such as websites, other programs or databases. This is something that you must not practice at any cost. Always try to keep passwords that are unique and difficult.

Not all the different passwords should be easy to identify, and they must be unique and strong. There can be a lengthy combination of letters and characters. Also, try not to keep passwords related to your name or personal information. For example, the name of your pet dog or friend.

Password is also set strong, but what if not changed on a regular basis? That is even dangerous. Therefore, it is a suggestion to continuously update and change your password to eliminate risks.

Password management applications can help you protect and manage your passwords in a better way.

Must update software and plugin regularly.

To keep your website safe and healthy, one main tip is to update your software and plugin regularly. Yes, this is true, as hackers and attackers may take a chance to destroy your system if not updated.

Ignoring the software and plugin update, your website will automatically go into danger. Updates are always helpful in reducing the vulnerability of website destruction and having space for security enhancement.

You can also add a function for automatic website updates, so you do not need to worry about the update timings. Hence, please do not wait for website security and make it your priority to secure it firmly.

Buy an SSL certificate and add HTTPS.

We may advise that the website owner buy an SSL certificate for any website. SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate helps encrypt the messages sent by users through a web browser and websites.

Encryption is very important to safeguard your customers’ confidential data and protect it from hackers. A website with an SSL certificate will always have HTTPS and padlock in its URL, suggesting sturdy security.

A website not having an SSL certificate will send a warning message regarding potential danger to website visitors. Therefore, an SSL certificate is necessary to secure your data and increase customer trust.

Get a secure web host.

Your web host is nothing but the address of your website, as we have the address of our house. Therefore, the web host also needs to be safe and secure so that your website data remains safe.

There are a few factors you must consider while selecting a web host and they are as follows -:

• Are they offering a safe file transfer protocol (SFTP)
• Do they offer file backing-up services
• How good they are in security updates
• Do they use a rootkit scanner

Whatever web host you choose, you need to take care that it does not have any impact on the security of your website in any terms.

Do not forget to back up your website.

It is inevitable need to have a backup of your data so that in times of emergency, you need not worry. In addition, the best suggestion can be that your data backup should be kept offsite so that it will not have any impact of viruses, system hacks or hardware problems.

Storing the data in the cloud is also a good option because it helps you to save huge chunks of data that are easily accessible anywhere. It is one of the best options for files and data recovery.

Another great help would be to schedule the data backup so that you do not need to do it repeatedly manually. Never forget backup because it is the best solution against virus attacks or any other system attacks.

Using a web application firewall can be helpful.

Web application firewall comes in between your web server and data connection. Therefore, it is helpful to read the data passing through your website and be aware of any unnecessary foreign elements.

Nowadays, you may come across mostly cloud-based firewalls and plug-and-play service based. This will help you to scan the spammer and other malicious elements coming in between right from first.

Also know: IoT Security Challenges and Issues

Understand your web server configuration files

If you want to know about your web server configuration files, then you may know it from the root web directory. It will provide you with permission to refer to the rules as it includes the directives to improve your security.

There would be different types of files used, as below mentioned, and you may know yours

• Apache web servers use the .htaccess file
• Nginx servers use nginx.conf
• Microsoft IIS servers use the web.config

You can use a website checker tool to scan your website, and it may help you to know the viruses, errors, malware, etc., there on your website. Hence, it is better to be sure about your website security beforehand than to regret it later.

Strengthen your network security.

You may consider the following things when you wish to improve your network security:

• You must take care that your computer shows the notification to your employees to update the passwords at intervals of three months.
• Be sure that all such devices that you have attached to your network are malware free. Scan it before attaching it.
• If there is a short period of inactivity, then have an arrangement of computer logins expiry.

Changes required in CMS default settings

You shall modify some factors in your CMS (Content Management Systems) default settings to ensure better security. You can work on the parameters such as visibility, comments, editing of content, etc.

You can make the changes in default settings in order to change the visibility permission. Such as whether to allow only reading, editing or changes in the script

With visibility, there can be different types of users also-:

Owner – This means the person creating the file. The ownership can be given to another person, but the owner shall remain one only at a time.

Group – The accessibility to the file will be for the ones who are in the group. Therefore, in a way, it will be group accessibility.

Public – All the other people.

To safeguard your website, you can change the default settings of permissions as well as user type on a timely basis.

Also know: Top Cybersecurity Companies for 2022 in the USA

Conclusion

Briefly, a webmaster can never be free from responsibilities once he or she has made the website. After all, they also need to take care of website security maintenance.

So be careful, and implement the security measures, and hence your customers will have a safer experience.