Keeping Your Website Safe
If you have a small business, you know how crucial it is to maintain a presence on the internet. This is not only one of the main ways many new customers can find out about your company, but it’s also a helpful point of contact for them and a marketing tool. It’s because of these reasons that it is so important to make sure the website is as secure as possible. A secure website allows customers to make purchases with confidence and can protect their information from hackers. It can also help bolster confidence in your ability to run your business and encourage trust. Keep reading to learn more about how to ensure a secure website in a few easy steps.
Pick Passwords That Can’t Be Cracked
Create passwords that are difficult to guess. For example:
- 2001: A Space Odyssey – 2001:ASPaCeOddy$ey
- Raiders of the Lost Ark – RA1der$0fTheL0$Tar&
- May the Force be with you – MayTh34thbeWiTHU!
According to sources, a password that cannot easily be cracked is the most important part to keeping your website safe. You don’t want any passwords associated with running your website that could be easily be cracked. Stay away from birthdays, anniversaries, or other types of passwords that can be guessed, especially by people who know you. Don’t use anything else that is easy either, such as a string of numbers. When deciding on your password be sure to include a mixture of upper and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters. In addition, changing them on a regular basis is an important tactic that can block the hackers and work in your favor.
Stay Alert to Emails You Receive
Don’t click on links in emails from people you don’t recognize.
Pay attention to emails that come through to the account that operates your website. Individuals who practice phishing often send emails acting as professionals associated with the company you have your website through. These emails often have a link asking you to “click here.” If you do so without confirming if it is an official email, you might be giving them information that allows them to access your account. If you are ever in doubt about the legitimacy of an email, contact the company you have your website services through.
Manage Your Blog Comments Manually
If the comment areas of your blog look a little bare, ask some trusted friends to help by reading your blog and commenting on the articles for a few weeks. Having existing comments tends to generate more comments.
Many companies have a blog for their business as a way to both drive new customers and market themselves. Most blogs usually have an option for comments, where people can ask questions and discuss the topic of the blog with one another. Although it might sound tempting to auto-accept all comments, it’s best (and safer) to approve everything by hand. This allows you to delete any comments that have suspicious links or other information that could compromise your website, your customers, or both. Play it safe and get rid of anything that looks off.
Seek Out Anti-Malware Software
Some anti-malware software companies are: Trend Micro Internet Security, Symantec, FireEye, Palo Alto Networks and others. View a list of Cybersecurity Companies.
Anti-malware is a type of software that can detect and even prevent harmful software programs from being installed on your computer. This type of software from hackers is known as malware. Through malware, programs can steal passwords and delete files, so it is necessary to stop them in their tracks.
One option is to hire a professional who can protect you against such cyber attacks. You can choose a freelance professional and work with them to keep you, your website, and your customers safe. Although hiring someone in this capacity might seem overwhelming, look at reviews of their work, find out their cost, and see how long it would take them to deliver results, so you can get a better idea.
Keeping your website secure is important not only for protecting information but for your business to thrive and be trusted by the public.
Back Up Your Website
If you have WordPress, a good backup application is UpdraftPlus – Backup/Restore. It has backup and restore capabilities. Backups can be taken locally or they can be copied to Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, Rackspace, (S)FTP, WebDAV & email, on automatic schedules.
Preparing for the possibility of data loss is much easier and cheaper than attempting to recover data after a malware attack or by losing your website from some other reason. The most common ways of doing this are copying your website content and programs to a personal external drive, to the cloud or using an online backup service.
Once you have these steps handled, you can direct your attention to what you do best – running your company.
ATC Web Solutions provides marketing services, SEO, new website development and website maintenance for small businesses. Let us help you! Contact us today!
By guest writer Cody McBride of techdeck.info
Photo via Pixabay
