In this day and age, a small business relies heavily on having a trustworthy web presence. Your website reflects your business in so many ways, so make sure your customers know they can trust you with their data
1. Install SSL
We’ve discussed the importance of having an SSL/TLS certificate in the previous section, and exactly how it can affect your search rankings on Google. Installing SSL/TLS is non-negotiable – it’s absolutely essential that your website has an HTTPS web address and built-in data encryption.
Installing SSL/TLS can be done two different ways. One way is through your web hosting. For example, SSL/TLS certificates are included in all our Green Web Hosting packages here at LYF Solutions®. If you have the technical know-how, you can generate your own free SSL certificate through the Let’s Encrypt initiative.
2. Install anti-malware software
In addition to fighting traditional virus attacks, anti-malware programs can also protect your website and your customers from things like spyware and ransomware. Spyware puts you and your website users at risk by stealing information from your devices, whereas ransomware locks you out of your device or website until you pay some kind of ransom to the attacker.
There are a few different anti-malware software out there that you can use to protect your website to scan for and prevent these attacks, so you’ll need to do the research to find what works best for you. It’s important to note that you should also protect your devices from malware or viruses. A computer and multi-device malware or virus program will scan your computer and device for any vulnerabilities. If there is no protection or no regular scans, you have the chance to infect not only your computer, but the documents you store with a virus – which could potentially be sent to a client in an email attachment, or worse get into your website! The dating site rencontre papy gay does everything to make you safe
3. Secure your passwords
Make sure you use different passwords for all your logins in live chat rooms for women, and ensure that the passwords themselves are strong and difficult to guess! A strong password has a combination of numbers, letters, and symbols. You should also avoid using your passwords on a shared or public computer, or even on your own computer if you’re using an unsecured WiFi connection at a public place.
If it’s difficult for you to remember different passwords for each one of your logins, then consider signing up for a password manager like LastPass, Keeper, or Dashlane. Also, where possible, turn on two-factor authentication for your logins to make it more secure.
4. Keep your website plugins and software updated
It’s really important to note that plugin and software updates aren’t just to keep your website looking good and working well – they also frequently contain security updates that are vital to keeping your site safe! Depending on the website builder and content management system (CMS) you are using, there are different ways for you to find out if you are required to update a plugin, app or software. However, it’s most likely that you’ll see an alert whenever you log in.
If you don’t have the time to manually update all your plugins, consider using a web host that includes this as part of their services, like we do.
5. Avoid human error
A large number of cyber attacks are caused by human error – some put the number at 95%! No matter how many things you do to mitigate the risk of attacks to your website, it’s likely that you are the weakest point and biggest security risk.
That’s why being savvy about your cyber security needs to be a part of your skillset. Simple things like deleting scams and phishing emails, keeping your passwords secure, encrypting your communications, and only downloading things from trusted websites – these are some of the practices that can help reduce the human error factor when it comes to your website security.
6. Always save backups
No matter what type of website you have, and how many files and pages it contains, you can bet that it’s much better to restore it from backup than to rebuild it from scratch in the event of an attack! So make sure you are routinely backing up your website, files, and pages every day or at least once a week.
As a web hosting provider, we back up all our clients’ websites daily as part of our web hosting packages. We also back up all our servers, because we believe that you should have more than one solution when it comes to data backup.
If your web host does not do backups for you, then you should look into a website backup service like Barracuda or Dropsuite. Alternatively, if you have a WordPress website, you can install a website backup plugin like UpdraftPlus or BackupBuddy.
7. Install security plugins or apps
Speaking of plugins and apps, you can make your website more secure by installing tools that specifically protect your website. All our packages include the iThemes Security Pro plugin, which protects you from a wide range of attacks and even detects suspicious activity.
There are literally hundreds of different website security plugins available, so make sure you do your research and consider only installing plugins and apps from a reputable source.