Kiss Hackers Goodbye! 3 Tips To Secure Your Website

I hate to break it to you, but if you haven’t thought about website security, your website is at risk.

Don’t panic just yet!

We can get through this together! I know that trying to keep up with all the things you need to do to keep your website safe and secure can leave you feeling about as frazzled as a chameleon in a bag of skittles. It’s a lot.

THAT’S WHERE WEBSITE MAINTENANCE COMES IN

Website security doesn’t have to be all that scary, but it does require a little work. With a few tweaks, we can get you where you need to be.

Here are a few things you should be aware of when securing your website.

Eliminate Software Vulnerabilities

Picture a flower.

(just humor me, okay?)

You chose this flower. You planted it, watered it, set it on your sunny windowsill. It was love at first sight. You invested time and energy into your flower. And for a while it was thriving.

Now, some time has passed, maybe you missed a few watering days and it’s not looking as perky as it once was. What are your options? Hope it gets better? Throw it out and get a new one? NO!

It’s time to prune your flower! For any good plant to survive, you have to cut off the dead spots and make way for new growth. You have to nourish it and place it in a healthy environment.

Your website is not that different from your flower! In order for your website to perfectly reflect your personality and passion, you have to maintain its health from day one!

Keeping your website at its best can be overwhelming. There are software, plugins, widgets, and hosting to think of – all of which require maintenance. No one wants to hear their website is vulnerable to a virus or hacking – but the truth is that it’s one of the most common security issues out there!

Not updating your website can leave it weak and open yourself up to threats. It’s important to have plugins and tools that will continue to keep your website running smoothly – if they aren’t maintained, not only will they stop working, they’ll become a liability for hackers to get in.

You’ve built your brand into a strategic powerhouse that reflects your passion and values. Don’t let it fall apart because of a few missed updates.

Update your Firewall

The first step to protecting your website is a firewall. Like any other wall, a firewall protects your website from attacks by identifying, filtering, and blocking malicious traffic. Any hackers trying to reach your server have to break through the wall.

Some hosting platforms offer basic firewall packages. It’s worth looking into your providers services. If you recently purchased a computer, you may even have one pre-installed.

Another way a firewall can protect you is by protecting your customers – well, protecting their information. If you are offering services where you take a customer’s information, it could be at risk for data hacking.

Every time you accept their information, your customers are trusting you to protect them. Make sure you’re worthy of that trust!

A simple service like a firewall can go a long way in protecting yourself and your customers. But even firewalls need maintenance every now and then. Your protection is only as good as its weakest point. Hackers are constantly developing new tools to scale firewalls. Regular maintenance will keep yours strong and ready for anything!

Limit Access

Remember the first rule of computer class? Don’t share your password!

It was true as a kid, and it’s still true now. No matter how big your team gets, you need to keep your website and your business secure! It sounds easy to just give everyone your password, but that’s setting yourself up for trouble…

Instead, set up a system that gives access to your passwords or important information in a safe way. You can’t control other people. You don’t know if the people you work with have secure systems in place.

There are plenty of tools out there to help you protect your passwords – 1Password, Bitwarden, and Dashlane are just a few. They’ll save everything, so you and everyone on your team only need one password. Bonus! Now you don’t have to remember all 13+ characters of every password!

Another little trick is fixing your settings to work for you!

Change your settings to:

• Limit your login attempts so a hacker can’t keep trying to gain access.
• Setup a pre-login CAPTCHA. This allows your website to tell the difference between an automated bot and a human being.
• Restrict access to unauthorized IP addresses, there are plugins that can make this easier.

You don’t have to be insecure anymore!

Worried your website isn’t as secure as you thought? Scrambling to remember how many people have your passwords? Unsure when you updated your firewall?

Like I said before, don’t panic. Creating a safe website doesn’t have to be scary! I can help you take ownership of your website security so you can kiss the hackers goodbye!

Get peace of mind today. Let me handle keeping your website safe, so you can focus on running your business. Start your journey to a secure website – let’s talk!