5 simply ways to make your website harder to hack

Presumably, your website holds significant value to you, and as such, presented below are 5 simply ways to enhance its security and make your website harder to hack.

Did you know there are more than 1.86 billion websites on the internet. According to Securityweek.com “around 1% of these — so that’s 18,500,000 — are infected with malware at a given time each week; while the average website is attacked 44 times every day!”

So – here’s a few simple tips to try and make sure your website isn’t one of those infected!

1. Keep your software up to date

Whatever software you are using ensure it is the latest version and update as soon as possible after receiving notification that there is a new version out. 

CMS providers like WordPress, Joomla etc often release updated versions that make their software less vulnerable to attacks.

It’s worth doing a regular check of your site and getting rid of any old, unused and un-updated plugins as these allow hackers to wreak havoc  with injected malware.

2. Have a strong log in name and passwords

It seems obvious but there are thousands and thousands of web administrators still using the default login name of Admin or Login  – which is the hackers default  – so they are 50% of the way there in cracking your details! I wouldnt even use your name or any derivation of your name – particularly ifyour website states your name in the content!

Create strong passwords and change them on a regular basis.

3. Tighten up your network

If you have an office with a number of computer users then ensure that you have logins that expire after a short period of inactivity. Make sure passwords are changed frequently and NEVER written down and that all devices that are plugged into the network are scanned for malware each time they are attached.

4. Use an SSL certificate

Even if you don’t take any currency over your website this is now becoming the norm. In fact, in 2018 Google paved the way to making this standard by flagging up on their Chrome browser any site that didn’t have this in place. If you don’t have an SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate and your site visitor uses Chrome to access your site they will now see a site insecure message.  

If you are unsure whether you have an SSL certificate in place simply type your domain name into the Chrome Browser with the prefix https:// If it reverts to http// then you do not have an SSL

SSL Certificates are easy to apply – simply contact your hosting company. Some hosting companies charge an annual for this but there is no need to pay – find a hosting company or reseller that uses Lets Encrypt which is a free service!

5. Keep updated

Stay up to date with the latest attacks by subscribing to something like Hackers News – to be forewarned is to be forearmed!

Make sure that you have off-site backups of your site!
A good hosting company will have a daily back up service , but its worth checking that they do! If yo aren’t paying much for your hosting you may well be on a weekly or even monthly back up plan – which if you regularly update your site may not be of much use in the event of a hack.

To check out our hosting service (which includes free ssl and daily back ups) click here.