8 Tips to Protect Your Website from Hackers and Malware

Securing your website is important for protecting your data and sensitive customer information. You may think that your site has nothing precious that hackers can prey on. If you analyse most website security breaches, you will find that hackers don’t always steal data or mess with website layouts; instead, they try to use a server as an email relay for spam. They can also try to create a temporary web server to serve files of an illegal nature, use your servers as a part of a botnet, or mine bitcoins. Your website could even be affected by ransomware.

When it comes to securing a website, you have to start protecting it from the beginning. Taking a few preventative measures can help you protect your site and prevent hacking or malware attacks. Hire professional website design services in India to keep everything streamlined and secure from the very beginning.

Fast Facts:

Did you know cyberattacks happen once every 39 seconds?
95% of cyberattacks take place due to human error.
Nearly 30,000 websites are hacked each day across the globe.
43% of cyberattacks target small businesses.
Only 5% of organisational folders and files are perfectly protected.
Source:https://www.zippia.com/advice/cybersecurity-statistics/#:~:text=Cyberattacks%20happen%20once%20every%2039,websites%20are%20hacked%20each%20day.

How Can You Protect Your Website from Hackers and Malware?

Cybersecurity and malware attacks have risen in recent years. In such a scenario, it is crucial to protect your website in all possible ways. On the other hand, if your business website is related to functions like online transactions or deals with sensitive user information, you should protect your website as soon as possible. If you can’t decide where to start, you can take the help of professional website design services in India. Also, don’t forget to check out the tips we have listed below:

1. Install a Good Firewall

You know that hackers don’t use manual efforts to hack websites. They can create a bot that sniffs out vulnerable sites and then automate most of the process. In 2023, bots are very strong and can carry out very specific actions. In such a situation, a firewall comes into play. It can easily identify malicious requests. If you install a good firewall, each request for information made to your website will first go to the firewall. If the firewall finds the request malicious or generated from an IP address that is known to be malicious, it will block the request instead of processing it further. If you can’t understand how to install a suitable firewall for your website, hire the best web design company in India for help.

2. Enable an SSL Certificate

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate is nothing but a protocol that forms an encrypted link between your site’s web server and a web browser. It can help to keep data exchanged between a visitor and your website secure. Enabling an SSL certification is a must, especially when it is an eCommerce site. This SSL protocol can help you secure your customers’ sensitive data like payment information, bank details, addresses, etc.

With a little bit of technical knowledge, you can easily install an SSL certificate. You can easily get it from your hosting provider, domain registrar, or CA (certificate authority). Both free and paid SSL certificates are available. Based on the requirements of your website, install the best one.

3. Update Your Site Regularly

Outdated software can pose various risks to your websites. If you do not update your site regularly, you’re putting it at risk for cyberattacks, viruses, and other security issues. In order to avoid these hassles, you should regularly update your site or enable auto-update. These site updates generally contain security patches, and you should enable them as soon as possible. For WordPress users, there are many managed hosting facilities that take care of updates for you. Or you can learn it from developers while building your site. Generally, leading website development companies offer support and maintenance services, so if you hire them, website updates won’t be a hassle for you.

4. Use Strong & Unique Passwords

When it comes to securing a website, you should not use easy and simple passwords. Using simple passwords like names, common words, numbers in sequence, etc. won’t help, as they are easy to hack. Using strong passwords is an easy yet strong method to protect your website. While generating login passwords for your website, you should use a combination of numerical and alphabetical characters, capital and lowercase letters, special characters, and so on. Maintain a good length for your website. Nowadays, browsers suggest strong passwords, and you can make use of password manager tools to control your passwords on various devices.

5. Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA)

Two-factor authentication is an added layer of strength that can boost your site’s security. Generally, 2FA works with two different types of structures in order to prevent malicious attacks on your site. It binds your password with a text code, retina, facial recognition, or your fingerprint as a dual-sided puzzle. Anyone who tries to enter your site has to solve both puzzles. We can say that a 2FA facility is not a flawless system; however, it can help improve your site’s security.

6. Be Aware of Error Messages

You should be careful about how much information you offer via your error messages. You should provide only minimal information to users to ensure they can’t leak secrets present on your server. You should not also provide full exception details; otherwise, these can be complex attacks. You can keep detailed errors in the server logs but show your users only the information they need.

7. Avoid File Uploads If Possible

We have seen that many website design layouts or templates give users space to upload files. Letting users upload files to your website or server could pose a security risk. Many platforms let their users upload simple things like an avatar for their user profile. Innocent-looking scripts can also pose a cybersecurity threat when uploaded to an unprotected server. In such cases, all uploaded files by users should be monitored and vetted. Enabling such a procedure is not only time-consuming but also leaves room for human errors. Instead of complicating website management, you can simply restrict file uploads by users. If possible, you can also prevent direct access to all uploaded files and store them outside the database or webroot.

8. Perform Website Backups Regularly

As a leading web design company, we have seen that website backups are one of the most underrated tactics that site owners apply. While developing any design—be it an eCommerce website design or a responsive website design for a small business—we inform our clients about this backup thing. Site owners should take daily backups so that they can quickly restore their websites if anything goes wrong.

You can use a reliable backup plugin, as manual backups are often complicated to execute without considerable expertise. However, if you need manual backups, go for our support and maintenance services; our team will do it for you. Also, before enabling any changes to your site, you should take a backup first and then proceed. This is a secure measure that every website owner should always follow.

Conclusion

These are eight basic measures that you can follow to keep your website safe from hackers and malware. On the other hand, if you hire professional website design services in India, you can stay worry-free and concentrate on the core of your business. When it comes to hiring expert web design services in India, many business owners across the globe contact Logo Design India. Here, they meet teams of expert web developers with years of experience and knowledge of all leading technologies. Be it crafting an eCommerce website from scratch or revamping an existing one and boosting its security measures, we can do it all with excellence. In order to experience why we are the most preferred web design company in India, connect with us today.