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].