A website is essential for a strong online presence. As a valuable asset to your business, the site can be a target for hackers. In case it gets compromised then, there is a lot you can lose- the site can crash, the information can be leaked and there could be a money loss also. Therefore, it is a must to maintain website security. That implies securing a wall to protect the site from online nasties, bugs, or hackers. Here, we are giving you two options. Either you can hire a digital marketing company in Singapore and let them implement the strategies to ensure the site security from hackers or read on our blog to know all the fundamental aspects to consider for the same. Choosing the one is totally your call. So, let’s read on to find those pro tips!
7 Tips To Protect the Website From Hackers
Keep the Site and Software Updated
Hackers are proficient in finding the existing security functionalities. Therefore, it is always vital to keep updating the software when new features and technologies are introduced. While searching for a thriving website for hacking, the hackers prefer hacking sites with outdated functionalities. To keep up the software updating:
- Monitor every software component, and have a quick search to find out which are required to be updated. If an auto-updated option is ON then, the software documentation will get updated without influencing the site functionality.
- Make the schedule of software updates. We know that updates pop up often. Certainly, for difficult components, extra time can be consumed. However, when it is about small components, they get updated quickly.
- Also, create the site backup before updating. Because we never know in any case, any functionality can be affected or the site can get crashed.
Installing Firewall is recommended
The spammers do not hack the site in a manual way. Basically, they let the bots uncover the weak website and make the hacking process easy. Understanding firewall in-depth- it is a code that discovers spam requests. Each request to access the data on the site has to encounter a firewall first. And, in case the request is detected as spam, or is from an IP address that is malicious, then, it gets blocked at that every instant.
We recommend not modifying the configuration of the firewall. Because there are some that ask to configure the settings. But, you should not do it if you are not a website security expert.
Leverage HTTPs
It is known to all to focus on the green lock image; also, https can give susceptible data to the site. For security from hackers, the five letters are vital as they ensure to offer financial data on the specific page. Here, the SSL certificate also comes as a prime factor as it gives security for data transfer like personal information, credit cards, and contact data within the server and the site.
Now, search engines are considering site security important because their tendency is to give users a safe and positive experience for website browsing. That is why many are opting for the SEO service in Singapore to ensure better website ranking when there is no SSL certificate.
Use strong passwords
Using complicated passwords is vital, but, if they will work all the time is not sure. So, what you can do is use strong passwords on the website admin and server area. In addition, it is also essential to follow the best practices on using passwords to protect the accounts. The passwords must be saved as encrypted values, basically, with a hashing algorithm like SHA. It enables you to differentiate the encrypted value while user authentication. For better security of the site, it is better to follow the Password salting technique. And that demands you to use a unique salt on every password. All you need to do is to protect the passwords with 32 characters and then, implement hashing techniques. With this, the process of cracking the passwords slows down.
Adapt Query Parameterization
There are several sites that become victims of the SQL injection site hack. In general, this happens when there is a URL parameter or web form enabling the outsiders to fetch the data. However, if the metrics of the field are left open, anyone can include the code for accessing the information from the database. It is essential to save data from the site as your database consists of the susceptible data.
Several steps can be followed for website protection from SQL injection hacks. And the parameterized queries are the easiest and most significant to implement. It confirms that the code has typical parameters that do not allow the hackers to hack the data.
CSP to detect and mitigate the attacks
Another attack that you must look after is Cross-site scripting (XSS) attack. Hackers know the idea to slip JS code into the web pages that can affect the device of the site user. Here, with the Content Security Policy (CSP) too, you can secure the site from XSS. This enables them to mention the domains to be considered, and the valid references of the executable scripts present on the site pages. Accordingly, the browser will not prioritize those malware or malicious scripts that can compromise the user’s device. CSP adds the exact HTTP header on the website page and offers the directive strings and notifies the browser about the domains that are ok or not.
Test the site security with effective tools
After you are sure that you have implemented all practices to protect the site, there comes time to test the site security. And this is possible with the security tools, usually termed as pen testing or penetration testing, However, there are several free or commercial products that can help you in the same. Their working is equivalent to script hackers; after carrying out exploits, they tend to compromise the website’s security. Below are few tools (free) that can be used:
Netsparker
- Trail and free community available
- Better for testing XSS and SQL injection
OpenVAS
- Advanced open source scanner to check the site security
- Works best to test susceptibilities
SecurityHeaders.io
- Free online tool to report on the security headers
- Gives information on properly configured and enabled headers
Xenotix XSS Exploit Framework
- Open Web Application Security Project tool with comprehensive XSS attack selection
- Ensure which website variables are weak in IE, firefox and chrome.
Note: You can experience the daunting results after testing; an array of issues can occur. It is advised to prioritize the major problems first. Every issue has a reasonable explanation of vulnerabilities.
Concluding Remarks
Securing and protecting the website from the hackers is essential for the long run. From this article, you have a gist on the security tips that do not let any information get leaked in any way. So, overlooking them will cost your website success.
Are there any other security tips you are following? Have we missed any! Let us know!