Credit: Tony Messer
Why Website Security Is Important
If you run a website whether business or personal then ensuring that it is secure is important for a number of reasons, as shown below:
- To prevent Malware (viruses) being uploaded to your site
- To prevent Phishing emails being sent via your website
- To reassure your website visitors that your website is safe
- To get a better ranking in the search engines like Google
- To protect your business from getting hacked and to protect against losing vital data
Watch this quick video on how you can protect your website …
What Happens If Your Website Is Not Secure?
If your website is not secure then hackers and criminals can target your website and exploit any weaknesses.
They have a range of hacking tools at their disposal but the main ones are:
- Man In The Middle (MITM) Attack – this is where details are accessed between your website and the person’s browser
- Malware Uploads – Malware is injected to your website through vulnerabilities in the code
How To Secure Your Website
There are two main ways to secure your website:
- Switch to Secure HTTPS
- Use a Website Security Seal with Malware Detection
Here’s how they work.
Secure HTTPS (SSL Certificate)
The most basic way you can protect your site is to switch to HTTPS hosting. This requires an SSL certificate.
Normally websites are hosted on HTTP – check up in your browser. The problem with HTTP is that it is not secure. Hackers can ‘listen’ in to any data that is passed between your visitor’s browser and your website.
This could be sensitive data such as credit or debit card details or login credentials for their website.
With HTTPS a secure, encrypted connection is made between the browser and your website so that any data passed between them can not be intercepted.
However, HTTPS is not just good for security. Google have made it clear that HTTPS is also a ranking factor in their algorithm.
In short this means that Google favours websites that use HTTPS.
If you want to switch to HTTPS you will need an SSL Certificate. These are not very expensive and they are easy to install. Our support team is on hand to assist you.
Check Pickaweb´s secure hosting
Website Security Seal
A Site Seal is a security feature that monitors your website looking for Malware (i.e. viruses uploaded by hackers).
It’s like having an anti-virus for your website. You wouldn’t access the internet without using an anti-virus so why expose your website to potential threats?
It monitors your files and if it detects any Malware it notifies you so that you can remove it.
You can see an example of a Website Security Seal here.
Depending on the level of service the Website Security Seal that you use it can also remove any malicious files too for extra security and peace of mind.
How Much Does It Cost To Secure My Website?
For an SSL Certificate the cost start at just £29 per year plus an IP address at a cost of £10 per year (correct at time of writing – prices may change over time).
For a Website Security Seal the price starts at £19.99 per year for daily Website scanning.
We hope you have found useful this post on how to secure a website.
Thanks for reading and leave your questions below to keep the conversation going.
