The number of businesses without a website is decreasing. This just shows how important an online presence is in the current economy. While websites can be an amazing improvement in various business aspects, they can also pose a vulnerability.
There are no websites or businesses that are too insignificant in the eyes of hackers. If your website becomes someone’s target, you should have defenses that will minimize the chances of the attack succeeding.
This article will go through some of the most helpful practices you can implement for your business. Some of them are essentials that have been practiced for decades, while others are innovative solutions that implement modern methods for modern problems.
Importance of website security
The fact that website security is important is no hidden truth. However, it’s often overlooked as many people think they don’t have such bad luck that they will become targets of the attack.
Others think the bare minimum will suffice. However, as your business grows, the chances of becoming a target of a malicious attack increase. Cybersecurity threats can lead to different kinds of problems.
For example, Denial of Service (DoS) attacks aim to make your services unavailable to the users. On the other hand, we have malware such as ransomware, which can overtake your data and resources and ask for ransom. In this situation, you’re at risk of losing precious user and business data.
The dangers of being a victim of a hacker can lead to financial losses in terms of ransom, lowered traffic and sales, and fines carried out by regulatory bodies. On the other hand, if users lose anything in the process, this can have a significant negative impact on how your business is perceived and its reputation.
Compliance
Let’s go through the mentioned fines. Data regulations such as GDPR and CCPA are there to protect individual users from intrusive methods that companies use to gather and use their data.
These regulations have strict rules on transparency about what types of data are collected, how it’s used, and how data is stored. In case that user data gets leaked or misused, the company that gathered it suffers consequences.
These consequences can be in the form of extreme fines that can cause serious harm to your business’s finances.
1. Vulnerability assessments
One of the innovative ways of increasing your website security is through various tests and analytics. The importance of this method is growing, and it’s likely that it’s going to become a standard practice.
By conducting a security vulnerability assessment, you’re simulating an attack on your system. This helps you or your cybersecurity department understand the weaknesses of the website.
Vulnerability assessment can help you with making better security-related decisions in the long run. Once you understand the flaws that a website has, you’re going to understand which practices you should prioritize and which are unnecessary.
Of course, the basics shouldn’t be neglected. Vulnerability assessment starts with mapping all the devices in your system, allowing you to understand what can be targeted. Although this type of service will cost you, it’s much better to spend money on cybersecurity than on fines.
A great advantage that vulnerability assessment gives you is the fact that it saves you time from having to manually check for vulnerabilities. Eventually, you can opt for continuous protection from such software, as it will grant you insights into network changes, ongoing problems, and new vulnerabilities that can pop up.
2. Regular updates
Would you believe me if I told you that million-dollar companies suffered attacks because of outdated websites? It can be a real problem even if it doesn’t seem like it. If you don’t care about the visual appearance or functionalities of your website, that’s fine.
However, it’s quite important to ensure security and up-to-date versions of the platform and plugins that you’re using. Updates that developers ensure that bugs and vulnerabilities are fixed. Even smaller updates can be quite significant.
Older versions of WordPress, for example, can have certain flaws that allow hackers to get unauthorized access quicker. In the same manner, plugins and security software updates can protect you against newer types of malware.
Regular updates minimize the chances of having a version of a website that’s vulnerable. However, keep in mind that not all versions are stable. You should always back up your website and research the update before downloading it.
3. Anti-fraud software
Depending on the industry your business is operating in, you can have daily transactions. Sometimes, smaller businesses can start getting thousands of transactions that are hard to analyze manually.
Not only is it hard, but it can become impossible at one point. However, certain transactions can be fraudulent. They can be executed by an individual who stole a credit card, or they can be conducted with the intention of doing a chargeback fraud.
Regardless of the situation, anti-fraud software can help you analyze vast amounts of transactions and flag them automatically as fraudulent based on its analysis. Anti-fraud software is nowadays enhanced with artificial intelligence, ensuring that fraudulent patterns are easily recognized.
On top of anti-fraud software, you should also consider finding services that provide you with anti-money-laundering features, preventing suspicious individuals from creating accounts and misusing your platform.
4. Adequate user permissions
Depending on the size of your business, you likely have multiple departments. Some of them can work on operations such as marketing or SEO, while others can have the roles of decision-makers or accountants.
Regardless, employees from one department shouldn’t have access to someone else’s information. This should be the rule, as some employees can misuse this information for their own gain. Whether they want to leak the information or use it against you, permissions need to be strict.
The general rule is that each user should have the least amount of privileges that allow them to work properly. In this way, your team members will become a smaller target. For example, if a user has their account or device hacked, the wrongdoers won’t be able to get access to sensitive resources within your company.
Although each employee should protect themselves on the internet adequately, it’s better to have measures preventing such situations from doing too much damage. The way in which your user permissions should be granted depends on your CMS and network.
5. Improved authentication measures
Authentication shouldn’t be neglected. If hackers choose your company as a target, they won’t give up easily. They can explore the social media profiles of your employees, use brute force and dictionary attacks, or a plethora of other methods.
To protect yourself from such attacks, there’s no better solution than encouraging the use of multi-factor authentication and strong passwords. As a way of increasing your internal security, consider finding a password manager that will provide you with enterprise services.
Multi-factor authentication ensures that, in case a password or an account is leaked, the hacker won’t be able to access the accounts without a generated token or a biometric scan. On the other hand, strong passwords ensure that they won’t be breached easily by brute force attacks or guessed through spidering.
6. Limit the information that you store
As mentioned earlier, companies are fully responsible in the event of a data breach. While it’s best to protect yourself from malware attacks using real-time protection and cybersecurity protocols, it’s also important to think of a worst-case scenario.
Ensure that the cookies you gather are essential for your operations and that you don’t gather any unnecessary information. The less data you store, the less the chances of it becoming a problem in case of a data breach.
Furthermore, try to find platforms that prioritize data security when storing data.
Website security is essential for business success
Regardless of the chances of your website becoming a hacker’s target, a single successful attack can lead to devastating consequences for your business. Depending on your budget, a portion should always go toward maintaining and expanding your security.
There isn’t a single practice that will guarantee a complete defense. But it’s essential to do the basics while having an open mind for more expensive and innovative solutions. New compliance regulations, advanced hacker concepts, and the growth of AI all signal that you should keep up with the trends.
Hopefully, this article helped you find new ways of boosting your website’s security. A combination of traditional and innovative practices is most effective, so do your due diligence and research your options.
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