Is Your Website as Secure as it Should Be?

Now, more than ever, its vital that you protect your customers when they are using your website online.

Some of the responsibility does fall onto the customer to be security savvy when browsing the web and making payments. However, new regulations like GDPR mean that you could be fined hundreds of thousands of pounds if your company is found to be at fault or has had a data breach.

Its estimated that over half of firms in the UK have reported some kind of cyber-attack in 2019. This is a worrying 40% increase on the number reported in 2018. With statistics like this it really pays to understand whether your website is as secure as it should be. 

Simple Website Security Tips

Different types of organisation will have different requirements when it comes to the security of their website.

For websites that handle personal and confidential information it’s critical that they have the maximum levels of security in place.

A website that is purely informational; does not collect customer data and security is still important because hackers can inject software into your site to dupe your viewers into visiting false websites where their data could be stolen. 

The bottom line is that if you are operating a website then you have an obligation to make sure its secure. 

Encrypt with an SSL Certificate

Every website owner should consider having an SSL certificate installed on their website, not least because a HTTPS connection has been a Google ranking signal since 2014. In simple terms an SSL provides a secure and encrypted connection between your website and the person viewing it. It means that sensitive information can be submitted securely and is encrypted so if anyone was able to view that data, they would not be able to read it.

Run Security Tests

One common practice that many large organisations choose to do on a regular basis is run security tests on their website. Sometimes this can be setting competitions for people to hack their websites and find bugs. The other option is to find a company like www.digivante.com who provide a security testing service. Testing should be carried out in a number of areas including the website infrastructure, the network and the database.

Update at Every Opportunity

For those using website platforms like WordPress it’s very important to update your site to the latest versions when they come out. These updates may provide some added functionality but most importantly they will include security updates and bug fixes that could have left your site vulnerable. If you don’t update your website and plug-ins your site might be exposed to hackers. 

Back-Up Your Website 

This should be common practice anyway and it may be a service that is provided by your current website provider or hosting provider. One of the reasons a back-up is important from a security stand point is because if you site is hacked and malicious code is injected, you will have an older, clean version to fall back on.