In this modern digital world, online businesses are growing day by day. A browser carries out business meetings, banks, shopping, games, entertainment, etc., using 0s and 1s. As a business owner, is there anything that disturbs you like when your client says they are seeing “Your Website has been Hacked” content on the website?. And do you don’t know how to overcome these issues?. Feel free as this blog aims to free yourself from this tension.

We at AssistanZ, not only secure client websites but we harden the whole server with any kind of panels which makes it the hacker to break in.

How to secure your website?

1. Firstly, install the security applications for your Content management system (CMS).
2. Always ensure that any e-commerce site conducts transactions over private SSL.”
3. Regularly update your CMS and Installed plugins if any.
4. Block the PHP execution in untrusted folders.
5. Keep stronger passwords for the control panel, emails, FTP users, and databases and store them securely. Change those passwords frequently.
6. Protect the files and folders access via htaccess.
7. Analyze the awstats log and block the unwanted traffic to your website.
8. Configure any CDN like Cloudflare, or Akamai.

Let’s further discuss the common website security issues and how we can fix them. Wide-ranging website security involves a complete set of tools to protect against malware infections, data breaches, and service disruption. It protects the server, network, and email system. This includes technologies like Web Application Firewall (WAF) and also includes proactive vulnerability scanning in the server.

One single click on the wrong email leads to malware injection or plugin vulnerability leads to hacking a website. To assist with that awareness, consider the list below of the top five most common web security problems faced by businesses, and how to fix them.

1. Code Injection

Hackers can exploit vulnerabilities in applications to insert malicious code. An attacker often discovers the vulnerability in a text input field, like a username, where they input an SQL statement. This SQL statement executes on the database, constituting an SQL Injection attack. Other kinds of code injection attacks include shell injection, operating system command attacks, script injection, and dynamic evaluation attacks.

This type of attack leads to stealing credentials, modifying data, and even losing server control. Our admins, well-versed in handling these types of attacks, will apply the SQL LIMIT function to reduce the damage and avoid SQL injection.

2. Data Hijack

Compromised credentials of an email address or a website account often cause data breaches/hijacks and other common causes include software misconfiguration, lost hardware, or malware infection.

Server admins can prevent data hijacking by implementing good practices. Encrypted SSL can protect website traffic and transactions. Careful permission settings for files and folders are essential for each server user.

3. Malware Infection

Most people are aware that a widely used method to spread malware over the internet is through email spam because malware originates from various sources and requires many tools to prevent it. All servers need a proactive email scanning and filtering system to mitigate the risk.

When a device is infected with malware, all the files including hidden sources should be checked manually, and should remove all infected files before they replicate. This is practically not possible by hand, so requires an automated scanning tool, Imunify360, Maldet Scanner, and Rootkit Hunter (rkhunter).

4. Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attack

Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack requires a group of computers coupled together by a hacker to target a server with heavy traffic. If the server is under a DDoS attack, all services will be down and it will affect the server owner’s business a lot. Also, it will put the business owner under heavy pressure. To avoid this attack, one can have a Web Application Firewall (WAF) installed in the server or can use any CDN-based firewall that can identify and filter malicious traffic.

Here let us discuss briefly SSL, which plays an important role when it comes to website security because that needs to be discussed separately. A Secured Socket Layer (SSL) is a certificate generated specifically for a domain name that protects sensitive information in a website that travels over the Internet.

• SSL Encrypts Sensitive Information
• SSL Provides Identification & Authentication
• SSL Improves Customer Trust

SSL Encrypts Sensitive Information

The main function of the SSL is to protect server-client communication. Once the SSL is installed on a website, all communication will be encrypted with the help of key files. That’s the reason SSL is a MUST for all e-commerce websites since they deal with credit card details, IDs, passwords, etc.

SSL Provides Identification & Authentication

Next to encryption, SSL provides identification and authentication which means end users will have an assurance that they are sending information to the right server.  During SSL installation, certificate providers will validate the domains in which SSL going to be installed. Once the validation process is proved then the domain becomes trustworthy.

SSL Improves Customer Trust

Apart from encryption and authentication, SSL certificates are vital from a customer trust point of view. There are SSLs like EV SSL, when this type is installed, customers can even the details of the Organization. This means that customers will trust that website more when they see these green color texts and will definitely do some transactions from that website.

Thank you for taking the time to read our blog on “How to secure your website? – A comprehensive guide.” We hope you found the information valuable and insightful. If you find any issues with the information provided in this blog don’t hesitate to contact us (info@assistanz.com).