Complete Security Guide to Prevent Website Hacks

The Internet is rife with hackers, which means our sites are vulnerable to all types of security breaches, from malware and hacking to going offline during peak time, data theft and worse.

As a result, we spend a lot of time and money securing our sites so visitors feel safe when they visit.

We’ve compiled a guide to help you secure your website 24/7, so that you can protect your website, data, and visitors. There are several ways to do this, including using security systems and reliable web hosting, which ensure hackers can’t penetrate your site, and you’re safe from cyberattacks.

How Can Hacks Compromise Your Site?

We’ve already mentioned some of the ways your site can be affected by hackers, but there’s a lot more damage they can do, not just technically. Basically, they look for sensitive information, including banking and payment details, as well as other personal data they can use to make a profit from unwitting customers. If you have a website with an ecommerce store, you can lose trust when your customers’ data is stolen; this will harm your business’s reputation, making your customers go elsewhere.

Worst of all, it’s expensive to recover from financial losses caused by hacking, such as stolen information, downtime or corrupted data. You could even face legal repercussions or lose your website entirely.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) can also be affected, as search engines monitor sites to ensure they are secure. Hacking can lead to long-term customer loss, and, in the worst-case scenario, your site can be used to spread malware, infect customers and websites.

How Hackers Access Your Site

• Hackers look for vulnerabilities in your site, such as a technical issue or human error. The moment they find a way in, they use this to their advantage to inject viruses. But there are ways to prevent this.
• AI cyberattacks are far more advanced these days. They target AI models such as chatbots using harmful text prompts. They also use email attachments with hidden instructions that trigger harmful behaviour, as well as AI-generated images, audio or video which impersonate real people (we call it “deepfakes”).
• They can also use AI-powered bots and malware on vulnerable websites, attempting to log in to steal vast amounts of information. Each time they fail, they don’t give up; instead, they learn from their mistakes and return stronger.
• Unauthorised access is a major security issue and often occurs when you’re completely unaware. Using the same passwords or a weak password to access various sites will render your website open to hacker attacks. Hackers try various passwords to access your site. This frequently occurs when you don’t have HTTPS encryption, or when you’re accessing sites on public WiFi. The moment hackers have access to your site, they can take over, steal sensitive information, insert malicious code and scripts, and other harmful content.
• One common hacking trick is an SQL injection attack, where hackers inject malicious code into a site. This can result in illegally accessing sites, stealing information, and even taking your site’s entire database.
• Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attacks use bots to attack your website, making thousands of requests with fake traffic. The volume causes your site to load slowly, or even crash, resulting in extended time offline, which results in lost customers and profit.
• Cross-Site Scripting of XXS attacks happen when malicious scripts are inserted into your web pages. When a visitor loads that page, hackers redirect them to pages injected with malware or phishing sites.
• You can even harm your website yourself by using outdated software. If you don’t update your plugins, themes and core files regularly, your site is vulnerable to hackers.
• Hackers are clever. They try to trick people into providing secure information like credit card details to gain access to their bank accounts. Once they have this data, they are invincible, able to purchase items on your cards or accounts. Some sell this information on the dark web, so be aware.

How to Prevent Hackers & Secure Your Site

1.  Use Strong Passwords & 2FA

Hackers can easily bypass weak passwords or those passwords that people reuse. Choose a strong password with 12 to 16 characters and mix lowercase, uppercase, symbols and numbers. Then enable 2FA (two-factor authentication), which involves sending a password to the user via SMS, WhatsApp or email. Only once the user provides the password in an allocated space can the account be accessed.

2.  Purchase an SSL Certificate

SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificates only run on HTTPS, which means that your website name (domain name) has this in front of it, e.g. https://www.yourbusiness.com. By installing an SSL certificate, you ensure your data is encrypted and protected from being intercepted between browsers. So, when someone accesses your site, they know by the HTTPS, which includes a padlock icon, that your site is secure. This makes people trust your website, as they know scammers and hackers cannot intercept it.

3.  Be Extra Cautious

Whenever a customer inputs information into your site through login forms, comment boxes or searches, you need to be know that data isn’t harmful. This involves verifying every user to prevent SQL injection and XXS attacks (see above), which would compromise your website and make it vulnerable to data theft.

4.  Firewalls

Known as Web Application Firewalls, or WAFs, these stop attacks before they reach your site by checking IP addresses and traffic to ensure they aren’t malicious. They also prevent SQL code injection and XSS (see above) and other methods used by hackers.

5.  Scan for Malware Software

With reliable malware detection tools, you can remove malware before it causes damage and your information is stolen. If you scan regularly and respond the moment you find anything suspicious, you can prevent any long-term damage.

6.  Regularly Do Backups, Updates & Security Checks

By backing up your website regularly, you set up a defence against hacking. Constantly check for outdated software, plugins and themes, and update as soon as new versions are released. Also, regular backups ensure that you can restore your site if it is attacked, which saves downtime, money and loss of information.

Summary: A Secure Website Requires the Following

• Malware protection.
• An SSL certificate (these are often included free in hosting plans).
• Real-time malware scanning, intrusion detection and protection.
• A secure virtual environment.
• Tools that filter spam and malicious emails on your site to ensure it isn’t vulnerable.
• Firewalls and DDoS protection to block attacks, malicious traffic and other harmful events from reaching your site.
• Software to ensure you can restore your website fast if issues do arise.