A beginner’s guide to website security
Website security plainly refers to your ability to protect the data and users of your website from leaks, as well as malicious attacks and breaches. This is increasingly common in the modern digital landscape, and due to the prevalence of digital spaces in people’s lives there is a lot of expectation among audiences that you’re going to be able to keep them safe - as well as greater stakes on your ability to do so.
A website is also an essential, fundamental aspect of running any sort of business much of the time, meaning that having clear, actionable advice on how to protect yourself can allow you to navigate this environment confidently.
While the increased prevalence of digital reliance has led to some incredible breakthroughs, it also creates a greater abundance of threats in the form of hacking, malware, phishing and others. It’s easy to think that if your business is smaller than many of your competitors, you won’t be targeted, but it’s important to remember that no business is ever too small to suffer from these kinds of attacks. This creates an environment where client trust is both more valuable and more fragile than ever, making your dedication towards protection all the more important.
Common website threats explained
- Malware and viruses: Malware is harmful software designed to disrupt your services or gain access to sensitive information or resources. This can be done by locking up your services, making them inaccessible to you and your team or by actively sabotaging networks.
- DDoS attacks: A distributed-denial-of-service attack floods a network with an overwhelming amount of traffic to prevent it from functioning properly.
- SQL injection: An attacker can exploit a vulnerability in an application to gain access to sensitive information (like passwords) that they shouldn’t have access to.
- Brute force attacks: A trial-and-error approach to cracking passwords and other credentials aimed at gaining unauthorised access.
- Phishing: A method of stealing sensitive information by tricking the user into engaging with the suspicious link by pretending to be a reputable or trustworthy source.
- Spam and unauthorised logins: Spam might be a way of flooding comment sections or inboxes with malicious messages, some intended to distribute phishing links aimed at gaining unauthorised access.
The idea of having a strong password might feel commonplace for anyone in the modern world, but understanding what that actually means is important - password managers and generators can help you to implement passwords that are genuinely effective at safeguarding your logins. Utilising two-factor authentication can bolster your defences (requiring you to enter additional information, like the answer to a security question or verify a code sent to your phone or email). Using a secure and reputable web host can make all the difference when it comes to security, as can limiting the number of users who have authorised access.
Smaller considerations, like keeping plugins, CMS platforms and software regularly updated and backing up your website often can also play vital roles.
Many search engines will warn users if a website isn’t secure (indicated by the S in HTTPS), and that not only will naturally make them turn around and leave your website, but it could also negatively impact user trust. It’s an extension that provides encrypted and secure communication between the user and your website, and it is a vital ranking factor in Google’s algorithm which means it’s also very valuable for SEO purposes.
An SSL certificate is what takes a website from HTTP to HTTPS, so if you’re trying to best understand how to secure your website, obtaining an SSL from a certificate authority (CA) is essential - but it will often cost, and it’s paramount that you find a trusted source for this.
Protecting customer data and GDPR compliance
Good security through methods like obtaining an SSL or installing effective firewalls can protect customer data by making it more difficult to access, but going the extra mile is worth your time due to the legal obligations that can surround this type of data. Customers will also often be cautious about this themselves, and linking to your own cookie policy and data storage practices can help customers to have some say in what they provide, and gain a greater understanding of what it’s used for.
A crucial aspect of e-commerce websites is also one that opens up natural security risks - requiring clients to enter sensitive payment information to procure your services. Using secure payment gateways becomes a central part of your strategy - as customers need to trust that they can input this information without risk, and you need to both receive that money and maintain that credibility. This will also require you to develop your website in compliance with PCI laws, which is a minimum threshold of security when it comes to how payment information is handled due to the high level of sensitivity around this information. This applies beyond the gateway itself and into how you protect user accounts that might have this kind of information on-file, as well as, alternatively, any customer information that you have stored in your own network.
Firewalls, security plugins and website scanning
While the concept of a firewall might be one that you’re vaguely familiar with, understanding what they do might help you see how mandatory they are in the modern, digital world. Firewalls can exist in different forms, but they create a distinction between your own “trusted” network, and everything outside of that - using that and other distinctions to scrutinise everything that comes into contact with it, preventing access for a wide variety of harmful threats.
Some firewalls that utilise the cloud or AI in their design can repeatedly probe your own defences for vulnerabilities to patch these up before they are exploited, meaning that you stay one step ahead. Through comparisons between unrecognised files and your own network, malware scanners can identify suspicious activity and prevent access before it becomes a problem.
If you’re using WordPress, security plugins like WPScan and Sucuri Security might be worth investigating, if you’re using Drupal, it’s worth getting a sense of why CAPTCHA is so widely used.
Best practices for managing user access
An essential step for small business security is to ensure that only those who absolutely need access have access. One option that you have is to adopt a roles-based permissions system, where the level and type of access that a user is granted is specific to their job role, meaning that in a way, each type of access is unique and most of them don’t overlap entirely. When it does come to admin access, keep it incredibly limited as to who has this kind of authoritative access - and ensure that you don’t use “admin” as a username.
In fact, it’s important to remember to consistently maintain a strong password policy - it can be easy to feel as though you’ll never be targeted by an attack but when it comes to website hacking prevention, there’s no such thing as being too cautious.
If a disaster should occur, and you find yourself the target of an attack, knowing that you prepared ahead of time can make a world of difference. Backing up your website and all of your data is a strong form of preparation. Backups come in two main forms, through the cloud and local backups (as through a physical hard-drive or other type of storage). There are pros and cons to each of these options, the cloud is more versatile - able to be accessed from anywhere and safe from physical disasters - but it’s dependent on an internet connection and can therefore be slower or less convenient to access. Local backup requires you to invest in physical drives that can take up physical space and are vulnerable to damage as a result, but can allow you to access data almost immediately.
It’s recommended that you backup your website at least once a day to keep safe all of the potential changes and also to protect yourself not just against attacks but also random, unexpected failures of systems or other accidents. Whether you lean more heavily on cloud backup, local, or some mixture of the two, it’s vital that you have some sort of recovery plan in place so that you can return to normal functioning as soon as possible if something happens.
Unfortunately, the cybersecurity landscape is an ever-shifting one, and that means that you need to commit to ongoing maintenance and monitoring to not only adjust your approach, but understand where vulnerabilities might be arising that need to be addressed. Practically speaking, this means conducting regular audits of your website and your security, thorough scans to check for any emerging threats and consistently updating your security and plugins to ensure they’re equipped to handle the latest issues.
This can be a lot to incorporate into your routine, especially when you’re trying to run a business at the same time. This is why it can be beneficial to enlist an agency to equip you with a monthly maintenance package that helps you to stay on top of things.
It’s natural to panic, but staying calm and acting fast makes all the difference. First, change all passwords and limit admin access to stop further damage. If you’re using WordPress, activate a maintenance plugin (like WP Maintenance Mode) to hide your site safely while you investigate.
Next, contact your hosting provider or security service so they can isolate the site and check server logs. Run a malware scan using tools such as Wordfence, then restore from a clean backup if needed.
Finally, once you’re back online, review how the breach happened, update all software, and add extra protection like two-factor authentication or a firewall plugin to prevent future attacks.
Even though this is just website security for beginners, it can still feel like a lot to take care of. The right agency can do a lot to guide you through the best practices here, especially if they’re experts in secure web development and hosting. With such an agency, we can offer ongoing security services, audits and support plans that monitor your defences and keep you informed of any new potential issues or directions that could make you more secure.
Book a free security review with us today and we can determine what your needs are and lay out exactly what we could do to help you thrive in a digital environment that can often feel daunting.
Despite the overwhelming number of technical details that it feels as though you have to stay on top of, it’s important to remember just to take it one step at a time. The priority, when it comes to cybersecurity, is staying proactive - becoming complacent and overconfident in what you’ve established might only make you an easier target.
If you’re unsure where to begin, contact us today. We’ll assess your site and create a clear, practical plan to strengthen its security.
Learn how to protect your website from hacks, malware, and data breaches with simple, actionable security tips for beginners.
