Improve Your Website & Reduce the Risk of Cyberattacks

Even the most well-built websites require regular security updates and routine backups to avoid risks, outages and downtime. Over 12.8 million websites are estimated to be infected with malware worldwide. Not only that, but flaws in web application coding contribute to over 70% of website vulnerabilities, putting you and your brand at risk.

There are several ways to protect yourself, your business and your brand from these cybersecurity threats. Most importantly, you should understand what your site is most at risk for, who you can count on when an attack occurs and how to best mitigate risk to prevent issues from happening in the future.

Potential Security Risks to Watch Out For

Since the dawn of the internet, the list of potential website security threats has only grown year after year. Most (83%) of organizations have experienced a security breach on some level. Yet almost half (42%) of leaders lack clarity on who is responsible for when these cyberattacks occur and how to properly recover.

Some security risks are more severe than others, but some of the most common (and those you should watch out for) include:

• Outdated Code Libraries and Dependencies. Without updated libraries and dependencies, it not only makes it difficult to maintain the website but also creates numerous vulnerabilities and, therefore, avenues for cyber security risks.
• Poor Server and Database Maintenance and Configuration. This could lead to outdated and "buggy" firmware, outages and, most notably, cyberattacks.
• Plugin Updates without Evaluation. If you do not have a system in place to evaluate plugin code as part of your plugin update process, it could leave areas of your site vulnerable or broken.
• Usage of Template Sites and 3rd Party Code. Template sites and third-party code can seem like promising ideas upfront due to the convenience and cost savings, but you are introducing foreign code into your website without any form of validation, which makes it extremely risky.
• Data Breaches. Some of the most common cyberattacks are data breaches due to hackers entering malicious code into user-facing fields and gaining access to your private and customers' confidential information.
• Loss of Website Availability. If you do not own your website or have full access to it, there is a chance you could lose your data to a cyberattack.
• Ransomware. Ransomware can lock you out of your website and data by encrypting your files.
• Cross-site Scripting (XSS). This vulnerability can allow attackers to inject malicious scripts into your website, compromising your security and impacting the interactions with your website.
• SQL and Code Injections. This attack occurs when the backend database is manipulated to access information not intended to be displayed and could potentially put sensitive information out for everyone to see.

How to Enhance Website Security & Mitigate Risk

Keep your website up to date

Code Libraries and dependencies are ever-evolving, making it the #1 way your website will break without even touching anything. Forgoing maintenance for your website will cause service disruptions when libraries and dependencies are updated and or deprecated (especially for security reasons). When these libraries and dependencies are outdated, they open backdoor risks to your site and data. Plus, it can cause significant issues for the user experience. Plugins and templates require routine maintenance and evaluation to prevent code collisions and incompatibilities. If you are not evaluating the code as a programmer and thoroughly testing it in a staging/QA environment, you should not press the update button, as you are introducing foreign code into your website that has the potential to cause significant issues.

Choose a reputable website host

When choosing which host to store your website's data and files, it is essential to consider their security features, data protection, technical support and how often they implement updates and patches. We recommend using managed hosting to ensure you have a network administrator who follows a regular maintenance routine to keep up with critical updates.

Perform routine website backups

Daily backups are essential for restoring points that match production data, especially when tied to a CMS or if you are selling products.

Restrict or limit access and permissions

Ensure all infrastructure and logins are secure, and access levels are adjusted based on specific user needs.

Require complex passwords

All passwords for infrastructure connections, including in website configuration files, should be encrypted, and proper password storage policies should be utilized.

Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF)

A WAF helps prevent potential malicious attempts by limiting countries, VPN access, bots and other unwanted traffic. Some WAFs leverage the benefits of a content delivery network and caching, load balancing, and DNS adjustments to maximize your control without adjusting your domain name DNS, which can cause a delay in propagation and result in site downtime.

Train employees on website best practices

Having readily available routines and procedures for updating common areas or even more advanced administrative areas can limit potential breaks and a poor user experience, which includes having proper QA, UAT and Smoke Testing for each change type.

Have a website recovery plan in place

Disaster recovery, including more significant breaches, installation rollback plans for more extensive updates and content restoration for smaller changes, should be documented thoroughly. This way, your team will be equipped with the processes to reduce downtime and provide proper communication during a recovery event.

Team Up with Website Management Experts

Growing businesses have growing needs. As your company grows, your website will grow more complex and hold more important information. Securing and properly maintaining your website and its data is essential to continuing your business's online growth.

Our approach to web management includes putting together a plan that can be executed based on your property's specific needs. All our processes are documented and covered with several checks of accountability. Major updates occur after business hours or in designated low-traffic times and include a rollback plan in the event of issues during the installation. Sites are monitored in 5-minute increments to ensure up-time and quick outage responses. Still, more importantly, detailed maintenance is scheduled in advance of breaks to reduce the chances of an outage.

Your website is one of your most valuable assets. Protecting it and the valuable data it holds with a professional team that is well versed in the world of website security is essential to protecting and growing your brand.