Do you want to know how you can increase the security of a website and avoid being a victim of hackers or information theft? We tell you about it in this article!

There is no doubt that having your own portal to promote the products and services of your brand It is one of the best ways to boost your business. Now, if you already have one, it is essential that you understand the importance of ensuring security for a website. In this sense, safeguarding the content of your pages will not only give you peace of mind, but it will also will help you build trust among users, who will feel safe when they leave their data.

What is security for a website?

Also known as cyber security, These are the measures that are adopted to protect web pages from cybercriminal attacks.. In this sense, an attempt is made to preserve the information they contain or the data that is included in them.

In case you don't know, security for a website is one of the keys to create a successful portal. While it is a continuous and essential process when managing the portal.

Thus, websites that do not have adequate protection are more prone to suffer various inconveniences such as: 

• Theft of information hosted on the web server
• Illegal obtaining of personal data of visitors, such as email addresses, bank records, telephone or postal address, to misuse them
• Display of unwanted ads
• Redirection to web pages with malicious content
• DDoS (denial-of-service attacks) threats that cause sites to stop working unexpectedly, making them inaccessible to users
• Malware downloads.

Security for a website is a critical component because those pages that do not guarantee protection compromise their reputation. This is because they create a bad image for users, who avoid returning to the portal for fear of being attacked again.

Furthermore, if a site is hacked or the victim of cybercrime, bring it back online and restore operation it costs time and money. So investing in web security is essential to avoid inconveniences, both for brand owners and their visitors.

Main security threats for a website

Before detailing what are the fundamental aspects that will help you protect yourself from cyberattacks, it is important that we tell you about the major security risks for a website.

Said threats have the ability to affect both portals as well as users. In the first case they do so by making them inaccessible to visitors or changing their position in search engines, while in the second they steal confidential information or cause them to download malicious software.

Database attacks

As its name indicates, it consists of steal the sites database to get information about the pages. Likewise, they access user records such as names, telephone numbers, emails and other means of contact.

malware

Is about malicious software that is fraudulently attached to websites to access sensitive visitor information. To do this, some require users to install and run them to get going, such as viruses. On the other hand, others operate imperceptibly without the browsers taking any action, as is the case with Trojans.

On the other hand, the presence of malware can make a website enters the Blacklist (black list) of Google. In this way, when a visitor who has activated this filter in their browser enters the portal, the browser warns them about the situation, preventing the page from loading.

DDoS attacks

DDoS cyber attacks They are one of the most dangerous because compromise the overall functioning of the portals This modality consists of saturating websites to block them or make them extremely slow, making them completely inaccessible to visitors.

In another order, when this attack is carried out on an e-commerce or Marketplace, the economic losses are significant.

Redirection to malicious sites

This is a common problem that affects the reputation of the portal and puts users at risk. Under this line, it takes place when a visitor enters a site and, by clicking on a link, you are directed to an unexpected web portal. Consequently, it ends up in a place that It has nothing to do with the subject of the page in which I was browsing. In turn, it may contain malicious software or try to steal confidential information.

fraudulent authentication

The login pages They are one of the favorites of hackers, since visitors enter their data there to access various services. In this context, fraudulent authentication attacks spoof credentials from different institutions with the aim of obtaining usernames and passwords for criminal purposes.

Disfigurement

The disfigurement is definitely the worst security threat to a website since it affects the entire service. This consists of change the visual appearance of a page and replace absolutely all content with malicious information set up by a hacker.

How to increase security for a website

Now that you know what the main security threats for a website it's time you know what measures can you put into practice to increase protection.

Choose a good hosting provider

Since sometimes the economic situation is not favorable, many people choose a web hosting service thinking about spend as little as possible. The drawback of this reasoning is that, as the saying goes, "cheap is expensive" and a cheap provider does not always provide effective solutions to incidents. For this reason, when it comes to selecting a hosting it is essential to choose one that, in addition to adapting to your budget, be reliable.

A adequate service is the one who offers protection for all web pages that are on the server. This action is achieved thanks to the implementation of certain security configurations that prevent, or at least lessen, cyberattacks.

Also, to really guarantee security for a website, a reliable hosting service must have a excellent technical support service that is available 24/7 to support their customers.

Activate an SSL certificate

In order to convert followers into customers, it is necessary win their trust. As? Offering them the protection they need when browsing your brand's portal. Therefore, when installing a security certificate Secure Socket Layer (SSL) on your server you will help protect sensitive user information.

The SSL certificate causes a secure connection to be generated between the web and the user who interacts with it. In this way, the shared data cannot be seen or intercepted by hackers. Thus, said element contributes to guaranteeing the security of a website and creates a trustworthy image for those who browse it.

On the other hand, visitors feel safe entering sensitive or confidential records when seeing that your website has the term "https" in its URL and the image of a padlock next to it.

Set strong passwords

It seems like a no-brainer, but the reality is that one of the best ways to guarantee the security of a website is to set secure login credentials that cannot be easily deciphered.

How can you create a strong password? Given these tips:

• Use at least 16 characters
• Combines uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and special characters
• Avoid words related to you, your brand or the platform or service that protects the credential

If possible, determine a two-step authentication system in which you need, in addition to username and password, a code sent by mail or SMS to your cell phone.

Keep in mind that fragile access credentials ddecrease the security of sites and leave them vulnerable against hackers.

Make backups frequently

Create backup copies not only helps increase security for a website, but is also the best way to be prepared for an eventual loss of partial or total information. Therefore, the only way to deal with this unfortunate situation is to make periodic backups of the portal. In this way, if there is an eventual, involuntary error or cyber attack, the consequences will not be so serious.

Install a firewall

A firewall is an element that works like first line of defense in attacks on internet portals. For example, if a hacker were to introduce malware into the code of your site and access your customers' confidential data, compromising their security and damaging the reputation of your page. ANDIn this framework, firewalls would stop the malware from acting and prevent information theft.

In conclusion, if you are about to launch your brand's portal, remember that guaranteeing the security of a website is as important as taking care of its visual appearance. This way you will gain trust and credibility. See you soon!