Category: CyberSecurity

SSL certificate is an important safety requirement for any websites. It is an essential part of website security and plays a crucial role in protecting data transfer between a browser and the website server. Many Internet users are now more aware than ever of website security, due to so many website safety issues being reported by the mass media, especially data breach cases. SSL certificate has become a fundamental aspect of owning and running a website.

What is an SSL certificate?

SSL certificate is a digital certificate technology that provides authentication and encrypts data that is transferred from a website to a server, or vice versa. Applying for an SSL certificate requires certain procedures that authenticate the owner of the website. A website secured with an SSL certificate can be seen by indicators on the website browser. The indicators include a small padlock before the website URL, the “https” in the URL and also the secure message displayed when clicking on the padlock, as shown below:

The presence of an SSL certificate on a website provides users with an assurance that the website owners are verified, and the data transit process is encrypted. Data encryption protects the data from being read or intercepted by any third parties, and only the intended sender and receiver will be able to decrypt the data. SSL certificate facilitates and safeguards communication message so that it cannot be read or stolen by the wrong parties.

How does an SSL certificate work?

SSL certificate is an encryption technology that uses two concepts, asymmetric cryptography and symmetric cryptography. The process of establishing a secured connection over SSL will require two steps, the SSL handshake and the actual data transfer.

The first step is called an SSL handshake, which utilises the asymmetric cryptography concept. Under this concept, a mathematically-related key pair is created, which consists of a Public Key and a Private Key. The Public Key is shared with anyone interested to establish a communication with a server, while the Private Key is kept secret. A browser initiates the connection and receives the Public Key from the server. It then verifies the Public Key against data from the issuing Certificate Authority (CA) and ensures the Public Key is valid. This step authenticates the server as legitimate and will establish a secured connection for actual data transfer. If the Public Key is invalid, then the connection will fail, and data transfer will not happen. The first step, SSL handshake, is only considered complete if the Public Key has been validated.

In the second step, the actual data transfer will start by utilising the second concept, symmetric cryptography. Under this concept, a session key will be generated, which encrypts and decrypts data. Both the browser and the website server will share the key, which is only known to them. Any data that is transferred will be encrypted by the session key and can only be decrypted with the same key. This ensures a secured and safe process of transmitting data.

Websites with SSL certificates will need to go through these two steps to establish a secured connection for data transfer. All these extra steps will enhance security and safeguard users’ data so that the data they submit are protected from interception by third-party.

The importance of SSL certificate

• SSL certificate increases conversion by building customers’ trust and confidence.
  SSL certificate increases the trust of customers, as it indicates that a website is safe for users. Customers are now more aware of website security, and SSL certificate is one of the most important signs they look for when visiting a website. They will be more confident, knowing that their data is properly encrypted and secured, thus increasing their willingness to convert as a paying customer.
• SSL certificate authenticates the identity of website owners.
  Applying for an SSL certificate involves a process which requires authenticating the identity of the website owner. The Certificate Authority (CA) which issues the SSL certificate will request a website owner to perform specific actions, and in the process will verify him/her as a legitimate owner. Websites with SSL certificate assures that a website owner has been verified and therefore is much safer than a website without an SSL certificate.
• SSL certificate establishes a secured connection for safety and integrity of data transfer.
  SSL certificate establishes a secured connection to protect data transfer. Any data sent will be encrypted and cannot be easily intercepted or viewed by anyone. In order to view the data, only the right corresponding key can decrypt the data, where only the intended receiver will have. This step ensures the safety and integrity of the data that is transferred.
• HTTPS increases security levels to pass the security check of major Internet browsers.
  Many modern Internet browsers now have security features which scan a website to check if it is safe for users. SSL certificate ensures that there are no security warning messages which might cause users to leave a website. The best example is when Google made SSL certificates mandatory for all websites in 2018. If a website has no SSL certificate, Google Chrome browser will display a security error message as shown below, and many users will leave due to the message. SSL certificates ensure this does not happen.
  
• Satisfy PCI DSS security compliance for online payments and transactions.
  If business owners are looking to implement online payments and transactions, they will need to satisfy PCI DSS security standards. PCI DSS stands for Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard, and one of the requirements is to have SSL certificates installed on their website. SSL certificates make the process of implementing online payments and transactions faster and easier.

The three main categories of SSL certificate

• Domain Validation (DV)
  DV certificate only requires authentication of domain ownership, and the validation level is the lowest. It is suitable for websites which need fast issuance, but it is less secure because anyone can get a DV certificate issued.
• Organisation Validation (OV)
  OV certificate requires validating the domain ownership, as well as the applicant’s organisation information to make sure it is an actual organisation. The validation level is higher than DV, as CAs take additional steps to verify organisation against public government information website or an approved third-party website before issuing OV certificates.
• Extended Validation (EV)
  EV certificate has the highest trust level. Certificate Authority (CA) takes complete steps to perform full validation of the applicant, including the validation steps in DV and OV certificates. CA will also contact the applicant through phone and verify the applicant is a legitimate business.

Not sure which category of SSL certificates to choose? Check out our guide here.

Conclusion

SSL certificates are now extremely important for any websites. It is now one of the most critical safety standards for modern websites. It builds trust and confidence of customers, authenticates website ownership, provides a secured connection for data transfer, increases security levels to meet modern Internet browsers’ safety requirements, as well as satisfy PCI DSS security compliance for online transactions. All these will provide a substantial advantage for any businesses that have an online presence in the long run.

WebNIC offers a wide range of SSL certificates that fit any businesses, from small and medium enterprises to big multinational corporations. It is important to encourage your customers to buy SSL certificates as they benefit their businesses in the long run. If you are unsure how to sell SSL certificates to your customers, contact us at [email protected] and let us assist you. We will help you to set up and guide you in selling SSL certificates.

About WebNIC

WebNIC is an accredited registrar for ICANN, and various countries including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan, we serve 4,500+ active resellers over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

Advanced Steps to Increase Web Security

Website security is a challenging issue and is extremely important to protect your customers. Every website must be at least doing these basic steps to protect their customers from common web security threats. However, there are some advanced steps you can take to ensure a higher level of website security. These steps are well-established standards in web security and will help a lot in the long run. However, these steps are more technical and might require an IT professional to help. Below are the more advanced steps.

1) Take Precautions With File Uploads or Restrict Them Entirely

File uploads functionality of a website can be abused by hackers to compromise web security. Hackers will take advantage of it and upload malicious files containing scripts that overwrite important files of the website or even upload a file big enough to crash a website. They can upload files with scripts that exploit vulnerabilities of a website, and take over the website to perform illegal activities.
It is best recommended to avoid file uploads entirely to increase web security. However, if this function is necessary and required, at least restrict the types of files that can be uploaded. Take some steps to handle file uploads, such as filter the types of files that are allowed to be uploaded, analyse the file type, set a maximum file size, scan the files for malware, rename the files upon upload or store uploaded files in a separate location from the webroot. All these steps are very technical, and it is recommended to have an IT professional to help implement them.

2) Use Parameterised Queries

SQL injections are one of the most common web security issues. Many websites have fallen victim to SQL injections and resulted in a data breach. Many hackers use web forms to launch SQL injection attacks. They insert code into the web forms, which allows them access to the website’s database to steal data. It is important to prevent SQL injections to safeguard a website’s customer database. Parameterised queries restrict the web forms inputs and reduce the chance of attack. This step requires the expertise of an IT professional and is very effective in preventing SQL injection attacks.

3) Use Content Security Policy (CSP)

Cross-site scripting (XSS) is a web security exploitation used by hackers to insert malicious JavaScript code to execute on a website visitor’s device. It is similar to SQL injection, and website owners can take steps to restrict functions or fields that accept input from website visitors. The strategy to increase web security against XSS is to use CSP. It is a tool that can specify which domains a browser considers as valid sources of executable scripts. It lets the browser know not to pay attention to scripts from sources other than the valid sources. Implementing CSP to increase web security requires an IT professional.

4) Choose a Safe Web Hosting Plan

To increase web security, it is important to select a safe web hosting plan. The web hosting company must have security on its servers to protect websites. It is also recommended to prevent free hosting plans or shared hosting plans. The cost of hosting might be attractive for these plans, but most of the time they come with certain compromises on security. If other websites hosted on the server of these hosting plans are compromised, hackers can easily gain access to the server, and all websites hosted on the same server cannot escape from the hackers’ grasp. They can easily take over any websites to perform illegal activities. Therefore, it is important to select a good and safe web hosting plan to increase web security, although they might be costlier.

5) Protect Website File Directory and Permission

Adjust website CMS settings to limit user permissions and file permissions. Hackers now use bots to scan for websites using default CMS settings, which allow them to search for attack targets easily. This way, they can attack numerous websites easily with the single same malware or virus.
Adjusting website CMS settings will make it hard for them, preventing the website from being an easy target for them to find. It also improves the security of a website’s directory, which limits users’ write and read permissions on essential website files. The most important thing is to prevent hackers to easily read and write these files to take over the website.

Conclusion

From here onwards, web security will become more and more significant. With the forthcoming of Internet of Things (IoT) where thousands if not millions of devices will be interconnected, web security is poised to be an integral part of it all. Many people are more aware than ever of the importance of their data. With so many devices collecting data, advanced web security might even become the necessary fundamentals behind them. In case advanced security is just too difficult to understand, you can read here to learn about the basics of improving website security first.
If you are unsure about implementing web security for your website, WebNIC is here to assist you. We offer the industry’s leading web security solutions with value-added services. If you need any help, you are most welcome to contact us at [email protected]. Or you can live chat with us by clicking the green button at the bottom right of our website.

About WebNIC
WebNIC is accredited registrar for ICANN, and various countries including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan, we serve 4,500+ active resellers over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

Understand the Importance of Website Safety

A website is an important customer touchpoint for many businesses. Therefore, website security is critical because it increases the trust of customers. Poor website security will result in a data breach and the loss of customer trust, which must be prevented.

The trust of customers is crucial to a company, because a study Trends in Customer Trust, conducted by Salesforce, stated that 95% of customers are more likely to be loyal to a company they trust. According to the same study, 59% of customers believe their personal information is vulnerable to a security breach.

To ensure the trust of customers, it is crucial that your website security is adequately set up to defend against any attacks. There are many ways to attack a website, and hackers utilise them to use attacks of all forms and shapes. It might seem complicated at first, but all the types of attacks use these common website security threats as the basis.

Common Website Security Threats

1) Spam

It is common to receive spam emails. We get them all the time in our inbox, sent by weird-looking email addresses or pretending to be legitimate emails sent from whomever they are pretending to be. These emails contain harmful attachments and links to malicious websites. Opening these will compromise the users’ devices as well as a website’s security.

Other common spams are those found in the comments section of a website. They are not only annoying, but also look bad for a website. Some of these spams contain malware that harms the users’ devices, or direct users to malicious websites. Search engines can detect these malicious links and blacklist the website if actions are not taken to solve it. The SEO of the website will be heavily damaged, and it will be extremely difficult for the website to recover.

2) Malware and Viruses

Malware stands for “malicious software” and allows hackers to manipulate a website. It opens access for attackers to steal sensitive data, distribute spams and malware, steal server resources, attack with denial of service and more. Malware and viruses come in all sorts of shapes and is a big threat for any websites, as they are difficult to remove. It is also difficult to recover from the damages caused by them.

3) WHOIS Domain Registration

Buying a domain name requires the submission of the domain owner’s information to the WHOIS database. The data is then stored along with other domain profile information, including the URL nameservers. The information is publicly available to anyone, and hackers can take advantage of this information to locate the server location to use it as a gateway to launch attacks on a website.

4) Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS)

A DDoS is an attack by hackers to take down or slow down significantly the service of a website. They use spoof IP addresses to send fake traffic to a website and overload the server hosting the website, making it offline and unable to deliver its intended service. Website owners will then need to get the server back up, and the server will be vulnerable to malware.

5) Vulnerability Exploits

Vulnerabilities of a website can include vulnerable codes or outdated plugins. Hackers will take advantage of these vulnerabilities to gain access to a site and take over the site to launch malicious activities. A few common examples include vulnerable codes that are susceptible to SQL injection attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS), brute force attacks. Outdated plugins do not patch their vulnerabilities and provide an opportunity for hackers to exploit vulnerable codes.

6) Deceptive Websites

Hackers can also attack a website by creating deceptive websites, or fake versions of a website. Users are tricked into believing they are on the real authentic websites. The hackers then ask for confidential information from the users and capture the inputs from them. The users are essentially giving their information to the hackers instead of the legitimate website.

Conclusion

In this digital era, customers are more aware than ever of the importance of their data. Securing the data of customers should be the priority of all businesses. Website security is a crucial aspect in protecting the data of customers, and should not be taken lightly. Read here to learn what you can do to improve website security.

If you are feeling at a loss on how to implement web security for your website, we at WebNIC will be glad to help you out. We offer the industry’s leading web security solutions with value-added services. If you need any help, you are most welcome to contact us at [email protected]. Or you can live chat with us by clicking the green button on the bottom right of our website.

About WebNIC
WebNIC is accredited registrar for ICANN, and various countries including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan, we serve 4,500+ active resellers over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

Holiday Season and Web Security

The year-end holiday season is upon us. There will be many sales and promotions, and many people love to take the opportunity to buy the items on their wish list during this period. Gift-givers are also taking the opportunity to purchase gifts at a discount. Some people will even buy big-ticket items only during this period every year. Billions of dollars will change hands and web security is extremely important to protect customers’ data and transactions.

Scammers and hackers have plenty of opportunities during this period due to the increased volume of online transactions. Many of them are financially motivated, which means the more financial transactions taking place, the more opportunities to exploit. The holiday season is like a magnet for cybercriminals, a time when there is an expected increase in the number of phishing emails and deceptive websites to scam users’ confidential information. Web security is even more crucial as the time nears the holiday season, a period of peak online transactions.

What is Web Security?

With all that said, what exactly is web security? It is an approach to secure a website from cyberattacks by implementing several security measures. It is equally crucial for both small businesses and massive corporations alike, and it is an essential part of managing a website on an ongoing basis.

It is essential to understand that web security is a continuous and an ever-evolving field, which requires regular review, assessment and sometimes even acquiring new cybersecurity knowledge. The reason behind this is that the cyber landscape is continually changing, and companies need to make sure they can keep up with the changes. Therefore, a holistic and systematic approach that implements such activities is recommended to effectively reduce cybersecurity risks and ensures that web security efforts are not wasted.

6 Simple Steps to Increase Web Security

It is important to know the many ways of attacks as mentioned above and understand how do they happen. Having a clear picture helps website owners to better prevent them from happening. Web security is important, and if website owners have not done anything to address it, then their websites are probably vulnerable to attacks. Here are some steps to increase web security.

1) Install Security Plugins and Tools

If a website is built with a Content Management System (CMS) such as WordPress, Joomla or Magento, the website owners can enhance its security by installing security plugins available on them. Many of them come free and serve their purpose well. They can help to effectively lower the risk of cybersecurity threats and address any vulnerabilities found.
If the website is built using HTML pages, there is also the option, SiteLock. This tool offers a wide range of security functions, including website scanning, malware removal, web application firewall, vulnerability patching, DDoS protection and it is PCI compliance. In addition, it is not limited to HTML websites, but it is also suitable for websites using CMS. It is an appropriate investment for web security. WebNIC provides SiteLock service, with additional value-added services. Visit here to learn more.

2) Install SSL/Use HTTPS Protocol

SSL certificate is a fundamental part of web security. The five little letters HTTPS are significant, and many online users are aware of its importance now. It signals to users that a website is safe to provide sensitive information such as credit card info, personal details and contact info. An SSL certificate encrypts the information sent from a website to the server. It is meaningless for hackers to intercept the information without decryption.
Since July 2018, Google Chrome has also implemented security measures to warn users of potentially unsafe websites. Websites without an SSL certificate all fall under this category. Once users see this alert, most of them will exit the website, and it is definitely not what website owners want. Many online users are now increasingly aware of the importance of data protection and privacy concerns. Therefore, SSL certificate is now crucial for web security.
WebNIC is an award-winning SSL certificate provider. We provide more than 40 types of SSL certificates, suitable for any businesses from small and medium enterprises to big corporations.

3) Update Software and Plugins

Websites using Content Management System (CMS) enjoy a wide range of convenience with the many third-party plugins or extensions available. However, it is also riskier for web security as these may become outdated and may be exploited by hackers. In fact, code vulnerabilities in outdated plugins or extensions are the leading cause of web security issues.
It is important to regularly update a website’s software and plugins to prevent web security problems. There is not a perfect software in the world, and every good software is regularly updated. It contains security patches to avoid exploitations by hackers, effectively lower the risks of web security issues.
SiteLock provides the convenience of scanning a website regularly for security vulnerabilities. It contains a web application firewall with automatic malware removal and security patching. Website owners can take advantage of these functionalities to increase their web security.

4) Implement Automatic Backup Website

As mentioned above, it is important to regularly update a website’s plugins and extensions for increasing web security. However, sometimes updating will cause a website to have errors and issues. To prepare for scenarios like these, it is good practice to invest in automatic backup of the website. Having such implements will save website owners much hassle in case their websites face this problem.
Automatic backup is also extremely useful in scenarios where hackers succeed in hacking websites. It is common that website owners will lose everything once their websites are taken over by hackers. Recovery will be very stressful, and automatic backup can help ease the stress.

5) Change Passwords Frequently and Store Them Securely

Many web security issues happen because hackers succeed in gaining control of them. One of the main reasons it happens is because the passwords used are too simple and easy. Another reason is that website owners reuse the same password on multiple websites. For good practices, it is best to change passwords frequently and use different passwords for different websites. It is crucial to have long passwords with special characters such as #, $, %, * etc., best with more than 12 characters. Another good practice is to use random passwords generated by password software and store them securely. Most password generator software provides secure storage for any randomly generated passwords.

6) Secure Personal Computer

A website owner’s personal computer can also provide an opportunity for web security issues to occur. Hackers have malware that can take control of a website by stealing the File Transfer Protocol (FTP) logins. They can inject malware through FTP and take over a website. FTP logins can be stolen by targeting a user’s personal computer as the gateway into the website. It is important for any PC owners to ensure that a strong antivirus is installed and to prevent hackers from injecting the computer with a malware to steal FTP logins. Scan and secure personal computer regularly to increase web security.

Conclusion

This holiday season is a golden time for hackers to launch attacks. However, website owners can make it hard for them to target their websites by increasing web security. Website owners must ensure the safety of their website visitors, protecting them from stolen data, phishing scams, session hijacking, malicious redirects or SEO spams.
The reputation of a website is on the line if its security is compromised. Learning how to protect a website is an essential duty of all website owners. Do you feel that the topic of web security is too much and too complicated? Fear not, as WebNIC is a leading authority in web services provider, and web security is our speciality! Contact us now to learn how to increase web security at [email protected].

About WebNIC
WebNIC is accredited registrar for ICANN, and various countries including Asia, Europe, America, Australasia, and Africa. With offices in Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Indonesia and Taiwan, we serve 4,500+ active resellers over 70 countries. To join us and become a reseller, live chat with us or email us at [email protected].

There are two types of SSL Certificate in the market, which are Free SSL and Paid SSL. As the name implies, companies can get Free SSL Certificate without paying any money, whereas they must pay for a Paid SSL Certificate. However, the level of encryption of both Free SSL and Paid SSL are the same. So then, why should you pay for an SSL Certificate if the level of encryption is the same with a free SSL Certificate? There are a few differences between these two types of SSL certificates.

Firstly, Free SSL Certificates are only limited to Domain Validation (DV). DV certificates are usually suitable for smaller platforms such as small businesses, personal blogs and so on. They provide the most basic level of authentication only. However, Paid SSL Certificates offer provision of Organization Validation (OV) and Extended Validation (EV) certificates other than DV certificates which gave plenty of choices that most suit to the businesses. Free SSL Certificates provide limited or no customer support, whereas Paid SSL Certificates will provide customer support whenever the customer facing issues with the Certificates. Therefore, in order to have lesser burden for the SSL Certificates installed in business websites, choosing Paid SSL Certificate is always a smarter choice.

Other than that, another difference between Free SSL Certificates and Paid SSL Certificates is the level of validation. The verification of the website owner’s business details for Free SSL Certificate is easy. Certificate Authority (CA) will only validate the identity of the website owner. On the other hand, the level of validation for Paid SSL Certificate is according to the type of SSL Certificate. By choosing OV certificates or EV certificates, CA will not only validate the identity of the website owner but they also carry out an in-depth verification of the business owned by the website owner other than his/her personal identity. These validation process is sophisticated and provided an extra protection to the business.

Next, CA usually issues Free SSL Certificates with a validity period of 30 to 90 days only. Therefore, website owners must always renew their certificate before it expires. The period of Paid SSL Certificates issued is longer than Free SSL Certificate. CA usually issues Paid SSL Certificates with a validity period of 1 to 2 years. There is no warranty provided by Free SSL Certificates if anything goes wrong on Certificate Authentication while Paid SSL Certificates is covered with a warranty limit up to $2.00 million.

A table of summary between Free SSL and Paid SSL as below:

Features	Free SSL Certificates	Paid SSL Certificates
SSL Suitable for	Small Size Web Sites	Medium to Large Business Web Sites
Customer Support	Nil	Yes
Extended Validation	Nil	Yes
Underwritten Warranty	Nil	Up to 2 million dollars
Validity	30 to 90 days only	1 to 2 years

 

In conclusion, SSL Certificates are necessary for any online business website. As mentioned above, Free SSL Certificate is very easy to obtain without any payment needed but it comes with many constraints. Paid SSL Certificates can secure and protect your business website on a greater level. Operating as an authorized partner for the SSL Certificate providers such as DigiCert, GlobalSign and Sectigo, WebNIC is now providing resellers one-stop solution for domain name and SSL Certificates. Do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected] if you need further assistance.

Website Security Management is any application or action taken to prevent website data exposed to cybercriminals or to secure your websites data in any way. It might cause website owner a costly clean up or decrease your online presence value in a sense that discourage visitors from re-visiting the website if the website owner overlooked some critical security component for the website.

 

Here’s the reason why you might need a website security management for your website:

 

1. Prevent Blacklisting and Business Failure

SiteLock protects businesses from blacklisting by blocking malicious access, monitoring sites for security flaws. This which means keeping website online and business running.

 

2. Scanning & Malware Removal

SiteLock® SMART™ (Secure Malware Alert and Removal Tool) is a technologically advanced product with an acute ability to find and automatically remove malware found on website.

 

3. Mitigate DDoS Attacks

DDoS attacks are becoming the weapon of choice for hackers today. SiteLock provides comprehensive DDoS protection from the most sophisticated forms of DDoS attacks.

 

4. Application Scanning

SiteLock performs web applications scanning to find outdated or vulnerable applications that hackers can utilize to gain access to your website and data.

 

5. Protect Reputation

SiteLock provides a complimentary Trust Seal to all websites utilizing SiteLock web security products. This badge instantly informs prospective clients that the site is safe, thus increasing trust and boosting conversions.

 

6. Enhance Website Performance

Website speed performance plays a huge role in generating a positive customer experience — which ultimately leads to higher revenue and increased customer loyalty. SiteLock advanced Content Delivery Network (CDN) greatly increases your website speed, while also using significantly less bandwidth.

 

Fortunately, WebNIC offered service like Website Security Management to help website owner secure their website data being exposed to cybercriminals with comprehensive website security solutions.

Is your website vulnerable to be attack by cybercriminals? Can you assure that your website visitors’ data is safe from being steal when they visiting your website? How secure it is your website to prevent these attacks from cybercriminals?

It is getting important for website owner to protect their visitor data information nowadays from dangerous cyber threats. There is no signal that when or how these cybercriminals will be attacking a website, they use programs to find and identify which website is containing vulnerabilities, and use these vulnerabilities as points of entry to start hacking the website.

There would be a few consequences if a website wasn’t protecting properly. Depends on the hacker’s intention, other than the potential of data being stolen by them, by putting in malware in the website could easily crash or slow your website or remove your website from the organic search result.

That’s why, WebNIC advice these Four tips to website owners to measure their website security level. If you found your website wasn’t protecting properly.

 

SSL Certificate

You will first need an SSL certificate that will protect the data collected by your website as it gets transferred from your website to a server. This may be a very basic website security measure, but it is extremely important because popular search engines and browsers are currently labelling websites without SSL as “insecure”. This indeed will make visitors suspect your website.

 

Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A WAF is another key component for web security as it can stop automated attacks that usually target lesser-known websites. These attacks are executed by bad bots capable of automatically looking for vulnerabilities they can exploit or causing DDoS attacks that crash or slow your website.

 

Software Updates
Security issues and vulnerabilities mostly detected in third-party plugins and applications make websites hosted on a content management system (CMS) to be at a greater risk of compromise. Such scenarios can be prevented by installing updates to plugins and core software on a timely basis, as these updates frequently comprise security patches.

 

Website Scanner

If you are very late in discovering a cyberattack performed on your website, then the cost to recover from this attack will only increase. To prevent such a situation, you will need a good website scanner capable of detecting vulnerabilities, malware, and several other security issues. A website scanner will not only remove known malware but will also look for threats on a regular basis and instantly alert you if anything gets detected, thus reducing the amount of damage it can do to your website.

Breaking Down 5 Different Types of Malware that Every Small Business Should Know

Modern malicious software — or malware for short — has reached unprecedented levels of sophistication, and as the attack landscape continues to evolve, new threats will undoubtedly emerge. Malware affecting websites poses a special danger to businesses.

Malware attacks not only cost companies money and customers, but also damage their reputations in the long term. While major companies sometimes spend millions to recover, the consequences for small businesses can be even more damaging because they lack the time, technical expertise, and resources to bounce back from an attack. The good news is that you can protect yourself from malicious attacks, and it’s not too difficult to do so. The first step is to understand what you’re up against.

In this article, we’ll explore the different types of malware and the symptoms of each that threaten today’s web users. Our goal is to provide small business owners with an understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals and to equip you with heightened confidence (and caution) in an increasingly chaotic online environment.

5 Different Types of Malware

Malware is a term used to reference any self-propagating program designed to damage a computer or website. These programs can take on a wide variety of forms, but for the purpose of this article, we’ll focus on five of the most common types of website malware:

1. Defacements

This type of attack is relatively common and very easy to spot. In a defacement attack, cybercriminals replace your site’s content, like your homepage, with their own images. You can think of defacement like graffiti for your website. The replacement content may be humorous, shocking, or ideological in nature. If visitors land on your site and see it’s been defaced, they may lose trust and leave. Revenue could be temporarily slowed or halted.

2. Backdoors

Backdoors are hidden code inserted in your site or files that give cybercriminals remote access to your site as they please. If left undetected, this type of access can last for long periods of time. When a backdoor attack is initiated, it means that hackers previously gained entry to your site and can repeatedly reinfect it.

3. Redirects

Malicious redirects are common on the internet and behave as their name suggests. When you type in the URL for a legitimate website but are taken to a different site, you’ve experienced a redirect. These types of malware attacks are easy to identify but can significantly decrease your web traffic if they’re not dealt with quickly.

4. SEO Spam

SEO refers to search engine optimization — or any technique that improves a website’s ranking in search results. These include the placement of relevant keywords throughout your web copy and the acquisition of backlinks from other authoritative websites to yours. If you notice strange links or suspicious comments appearing on your site, SEO spam may be to blame. This code dumps hundreds of thousands of files filled with malicious backlinks and irrelevant keywords onto infected pages, which can lead to a rapid, significant loss in traffic.

5. Malvertising

Sometimes, legitimate advertisements are injected with malicious code and are served across a legitimate ad network. This is an example of malvertising, which can spread as soon as a user clicks on an ad, executing an unwanted download. Though this type of malware can be difficult to spot, infected ads often contain errors or promote suspect products that don’t match up with your search history. That’s probably why it has grown in popularity over the past several years.

How to Protect Website From Malware?

In 2019, it’s no longer a matter of if you’ll be attacked but when you’ll be attacked. The longer a cyberattack goes undetected, the more expensive it will be for your company. A joint study by IBM Security and Ponemon Institute found that when companies are able to contain a data breach in 30 days or less, they save $1 million more than companies that leave breaches undisturbed for a month or more. A malware scanner that looks for and removes malware on a daily basis will prevent costs from ballooning.

A web application firewall — or WAF — should also be in place to prevent malicious bots, which are commonly used by cybercriminals to detect vulnerable sites, from entering your website to spread malware. Moreover, be sure to keep website plugins updated to their latest versions and remove plugins that you no longer use to avoid vulnerabilities. If you’re using an open-source content management system such as WordPress, take advantage of an automatic patching system to avoid vulnerabilities and malware infections by ensuring updates are installed in a timely manner.

Finally, follow some basic cybersecurity best practices. For instance, maintain strong, unique passwords, and use a CAPTCHA — a small test that distinguishes humans from robots — to protect login forms and other forms on your website.

Get familiar with the file structure of your website and review it periodically to make sure everything is in order, and always back up your files so you can restore them in the event of a breach. However, a backup is only effective if it’s a clean backup of your website — a malware-infected backup will be ineffective.

Malware is an unfortunate reality of the digital world — and businesses must take precautions to protect themselves from the different types of malware. The first step to prevention is education, so ensure you understand what you’re up against so you can protect yourself from the threats of today and tomorrow

sources: https://www.sitelock.com/blog/different-types-of-malware/