It doesn’t matter what kind of site you run, you want a secure website. Thankfully, there are a number of things you can do to secure your site and to protect it from hackers, viruses and so forth. With that said, below are a few tips to help you out.
1. Use Anti-Virus Protection Software
The first thing you want to do is use an anti-virus protection software. The chances are you currently do, but there’s an even better chance that you’re only using a free version. Although free versions are good enough in many situations, you don’t really want to run the risk of your website getting hacked or users’ info being stolen, which is why you should not use free anti-virus software for your website.
Instead, upgrade to a paid version of the software you currently use. Otherwise, you should do a bit of research on anti-virus programs. Choose the one with the features you think will protect your site the most.
2. Keep All Software Up To Date
Another thing you can do is make sure your software is updated. Whether it’s your operating system or CMS, forum or other kinds of software you use to run your site, the software needs to be up to date. When it isn’t, then it makes it easier for hackers to hack into them.
Generally speaking, this applies to mainly third-party software. Software that is hosted on a hosting company’s servers will ensure everything is up to date. As for how to make it easier on yourself to manage your software, you can use tools such as NPM or Composer.
3. Your Error Messages
If you have to display error messages on your site, then make sure you don’t give away too much info because the last thing you want is to leak out any secrets that are on the serve. For example, such information can include database passwords. Besides that, you don’t need to provide full exception details because if you do provide them, then SQL injections can be done much easier.
The only place detailed errors should be kept is within your servers. Your users only need to know certain info. Give them that info and then leave things at that.
4. Check Your Passwords
This might seem like commonsense, but you should check your admin password. Are your passwords stored as encrypted values? If not, then fix that right away.
While you’re at it, encourage your website users to check their passwords and to change their passwords from time to time. This is just good practice. Plus, the more you change passwords, the harder it becomes for bad guys to figure them out.
If you want a secure website and protect your site from people who want to do you and your site harm, then keep the above tips in mind. There are many other things you can do to secure your site, but those are some of the best things. Implement what you’ve just learnt and you’ll be a step closer to ensuring your site is protected.
