6 Tips to Prevent Your Website from Being Hacked

 The world of technology is a constantly changing, evolving beast. New websites, apps, and software are constantly being created to help users with new experiences, ease of use, and access to information. It’s great that there are so many options out there for people who want to stay up-to-date on technology without breaking the bank. But unfortunately, this also means hackers have a ton of new targets for their nefarious exploits. That’s why so many websites—even the big guys like Google and Amazon—endure security breaches almost weekly. Let’s be honest: no one wants their website hacked. It can really hurt your business in all kinds of ways: from losing customer trust and loyalty to exposing private information or even putting your company at risk for future attacks by opening you up as an easy target again. A security breach can happen to any website owner at any time — no matter how big or small your site is or how secure you think it might be. Even if you have a best friend who hacked computers in his spare time in high school! So read on for some tips on how to prevent your website from being hacked…

Keep the Operating System Up-to-Date

The first thing you should do is make sure that your server is running the most recent operating system. The reason for this is that bugs are constantly being found and fixed in the software that runs the servers that your website is hosted on. If you’re on an old version, you may not have the latest security patches installed, and therefore, you’re more vulnerable to hackers. If you are running an outdated operating system, you can often go to your host server and ask them to upgrade it for you. Most will do this for free.

Use Strong Passwords and Don’t Repeat Them Elsewhere

You should have rules for your staff regarding the strength of their passwords. No one should be able to use a password such as “password” or “12345” or “qwerty.” You should also encourage them to not use the same password for multiple systems. If you’re using a password manager, that’s great, but be sure to set a strong master password for it, too. If you’re using a random password generator, make sure it actually creates random passwords by not repeating itself or using some type of pattern. You don’t want a hacker to be able to crack your password simply because it’s a pattern that they’ve used before.

Set Strong SSL Encryption and HTTP Only Controls

Your website should have SSL encryption and have HTTP only controls. SSL is typically free, and most web hosting companies offer it automatically. It encrypts the data sent back and forth between your server and the visitor’s browser. You should also look into setting up HTTP only controls so that your server can’t be hacked through an SQL injection. An SQL injection is when someone tries to hack your database through your website. Basically, they type commands into the website that will be sent to the database to be executed. By setting up HTTP only controls, you can stop this from happening.

Test Your Website’s Security Measures Regularly

You should set up a monitoring system or hire a company to regularly test your website’s security measures. You can do this either by having them perform a full security audit or by setting a web crawler to check your site for bugs. This can help you catch and fix problems before you’re hacked. Another thing you can do is set up Google Alerts for key words that might indicate a hack is about to happen. For instance, if you own a bakery and you’ve been hacked before, you may want to set up Google Alerts for the phrases “bakery hacked” and “bakery security breach.”

Use Website Security Software to Catch Breaches Early

If you have the budget to invest in website security software, you should. This type of software will scan your website for any possible vulnerabilities and even test your employees and their passwords to help you catch any security breaches before they happen. Security software can be really pricey, but it can really save you in the long run by catching regular security breaches and helping you fix them before they become a major problem.

Summary

The world of technology is a constantly changing, evolving beast. New websites, apps, and software are constantly being created to help users with new experiences, ease of use, and access to information. It's great that there are so many options out there for people who want to stay updated on technology without breaking the bank. Unfortunately, this also means hackers have a ton of new targets for their nefarious exploits. That's why so many websites--even the big guys like Google and Amazon--endure security breaches almost weekly. Let's be honest: no one wants their website hacked. It can really hurt your business in all kinds of ways: from losing customer trust and loyalty to exposing private information or even putting your company at risk for future attacks by opening you up as an easy target again. A security breach can happen to any website owner at any time--no matter how big or small your site is or how secure you think it might be.