October is Cyber Security Awareness month, and here at Anchor Wave we take your website's security very seriously. Below are our top 5 ways to keep your website, and therefore your business, safe online!
1. Host your site on a secure server to prevent malware
Not all hosting platforms are created equal. Secure servers are necessary for a secure site. Even if you take every possible precaution to keep your website secure—such as installing a firewall and a security certificate and running frequent software updates—these steps will not keep your site safe if it is on an unsecure server.
It’s kind of like the “sick” and “healthy” waiting rooms at the doctors office. Have you been to a medical office and noticed they have a separate area for folks that are sick versus those that are well? That’s the same concept with hosting options. Some hosts allow anyone to bring in their ‘germs’ or malware. Other hosting environments and servers have an elevated set of standards that prevent those weak spots from being a part of their shared space.
2. Update your WordPress versions, PHP and plug-ins regularly
A WordPress site is a huge advantage to your company, and offers many great features. However, it is not a “build it and forget it” tool. There are always updates to the framework and the plug-ins that are designed to keep your site safe and running well. If you go too long without staying on top of these updates, you open yourself up to vulnerabilities that can be exploited by online hackers. Plus, you run into the likelihood of your site crashing if there are incompatibilities!
3. Set your domain registration on auto renewal – but be aware of domain renewal fraud!
Your domain name is a key component of your online storefront, and is therefore one of the most important things to be sure to renew every year. If you lose your domain name, it can be a nightmare to attempt to recover it, and can cost you thousands of dollars with no guarantee you’ll get it back. The best solution is to host your domain registration with a company that will renew it automatically and then bill you! Also, be aware of email and mail fraud from companies claiming to be a domain registrar. If you host with a company that automatically renews the domain, you can be assured these notices are fraud!
4. Be sure your host is regularly backing up your site
Site backups are incredibly important, and it is recommended that you have a daily site backup. This ensures that if anything goes wrong on the site, you can always restore it to a backup, and will not lose much if any information. A good hosting provider includes this in your monthly hosting plan.
5. Restrict users from the site who no longer work for your company
It is a good practice to restrict the website access to any employees who leave your company on the last day of their employment. It is not recommended to delete the user all together, as that can erase all the content they contributed to the site, but adjusting the user permission so they cannot make any changes to the site is a good safeguard that will keep you protected.
For more information about ways to stay safe, and for a free site scan, you can schedule a free consultation with Anchor Wave’s team HERE!
Anchor Wave is Tucson’s one stop webshop for hosting management, firewalls, domain registration, and everything else you need to keep your website up and running. We take website security seriously, and we will help you customize a solution that fits into your budget. Give us a call today at (520) 622-3731 to learn what we can do for your business!
