Trends come and go in the shadowy world of cybercrime, and the latest trend involves breaking into commercial websites to steal personal information that can either be sold or exposed online for the entire world to see. From intimate photos to credit card information and from dating profiles to business account credentials, hackers wish to impose their own brand of dystopian democracy on the Internet.
If you own or operate a business website, you can be sure that hackers will be interested in breaching it; they have their reasons, and they are often malicious.
Here are some useful things to keep in mind as you make your website secure and hacker-proof:
Updates
When it comes to attacking a hosting platform or content management system (CMS), hackers do not have a particular preference. If it seems that WordPress installations on Linux Server platforms are often targeted, it is only because they are very popular. However, hackers are known to take advantage of zero-day exploits that they can apply to outdated systems.
When CMS or hosting apps and third-party plugins are not updated regularly, they fall prey to cyber attacks, and this is something that applies to the website administrator as well as to the host.
When Web hosting providers make certain platforms available, they should also offer the corresponding security tools and updates for their clients so that they can stay safe without having to hunt them down on dubious sites that may or may not have the correct versions.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
A properly installed WAF can make a world of difference when it comes to modern website security. Essentially, a WAF can be a hardware device or a cloud service that comes between the host and the actual incoming connections.
Similar to an operating system firewall, a WAF filters all requests and visits. When spam connections and botnet slaves arrive, they are blocked at the WAF level so that they never connect to the website. Cloud-based WAF services are easy to install and affordable to subscribe to.
Additional Security Measures
One attractive aspect of hosting a CMS platform is that security plugins are often easy to find and evaluate. What most of these plugins accomplish is making life difficult for hackers that try to breach the CMS; for example, a simple plugin that forces server-level authentication when www.example.com/wp-admin is accessed. This simple action will dissuade malicious login bots.
Access Control and Discipline
Giving super admin CMS level to multiple users is not a good ideal; there should be no more than two of these accounts allowed. Username/password credentials should only be shared via encrypted email. Changing WordPress database prefixes from the standard naming schemes is always a good idea.
Frequent Backups
Not all cyber attacks seek to steal information; many attacks seek to destroy digital assets in an effort to derail the online assets of a business. The best line of defense against such attacks is to apply a solid backup policy that employs more than one safe location.
Physical Network Security
Not all business websites these days can be hosted in the cloud. Law firms that deal with confidential client data, for example, may need to keep a physical network in their offices. When this is the case, physical measures such as individual virus scans of all connected devices become mandatory, and greater password strength should be practiced in offices where bring-your-own-device (BYOD) is allowed.
Secure Admin Folders
Admin directories are the favorite targets of CMS hackers, and the reason for this preference is based on the standard naming convention that can be detected by means of port scanning or even site searches. A simple security measure is to rename all folders strategically; for example, using foreign words or nonsensical names that do not reflect the admin nature of the directories.
Secure Socket Layer (SSL)
One of the biggest lessons taught in cyber universe in the recent years is that SSL is a browsing protocol that should be embraced by all. There is no reason to skip SSL; after all, all modern browsers support it, and there is enough bandwidth to sustain it.
If your website collects personal information from visitors, even something as seemingly innocuous as a session cookie, you should be granting security certificates. An SSL layer will make it more difficult for hackers to spy on the data that is being exchanged between commercial websites and the visitors they welcome.
Not all cyber attacks seek to steal information; many attacks seek to destroy digital assets in an effort to derail the online assets of a business.
rends come and go in the shadowy world of cybercrime, and the latest trend involves breaking into commercial websites to steal personal information that can either be sold or exposed online for the entire world to see. From intimate photos to credit card information and from dating profiles to business account credentials, hackers wish to impose their own brand of dystopian democracy on the Internet.