7 easy ways to improve your website security with Elite

We live in a world where technology and the possibilities it presents are advancing everyday. However, that also means that cyber-criminals and hackers are coming up with new ways to hack into company’s websites and people’s data everyday too. Your security is no joke. It can be the difference between your website thriving and your website having every piece of data stolen from it. That’s why, here at Elite we do everything we can to offer you the best security possible.

Furthermore, we’ve compiled these easy steps and precautions you can take to help stay one step ahead of hackers on the web. Not only will the following steps primarily apply to helping keep your business’s website safe, but can also be applied to your personal online life- because you can never be too safe!

1- Use a good password.

It’s simple. If your email address is samwilson31@gmail.com and your password is wilson31, you might as well be inviting anyone into your account. A good, strong password can make all the difference in protecting your data. Here are a few extremely simple steps you can take in order to make your passwords as safe as they can be:

• Use a variety of UPPERCASE and lowercase letters.
• Use different numbers as well as special characters such as 123£$%!?.
• Don’t use a keyword that people can easily associate with you (such as your name).
• Make it long- the shorter the password the easier it is to guess.
• Don’t use the same password for all of your log-ins and accounts- if a hacker gets one, don’t let them get them all!

If you want to see how strong your password is after making these changes, you can use an online password strength checker. Or, you can generate a password to ensure it is not only strong but unique too.

To improve your login security, you could also consider using 2-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA is an extra layer of security added to your account to ensure the person logging in is exactly who they say they are. Typically, 2FA will ask for a ‘secret keyword’ or question- which will include a question along the lines of ‘What is your mother’s maiden name?’ or ‘What primary school did you attend?’ that are unlikely to be known by people who aren’t the intended user. The best part is that 2FA is now available for WordPress to secure your website even more!

2- Updating Software regularly.

If you keep on top of software updates, you will help keep your website as up-to-scratch as it can be. This applies to everything, whether it be plugins, extensions or the software you run the site on itself. In the eyes of a hacker, a website that isn’t up to date is far more likely to have errors and little faults within it which will make it an easier target. If your site goes so long without being updated properly the overall performance will decline. It will also not be able to fend off against any possible attacks that may occur.

With some website hosting companies, all of your software will be updated by the company automatically, meaning you have nothing to worry about. However, if you are hosting your own website it is vital to stay on top of this!

3- Know your users.

If you are running a website on hosting software such as WordPress, you will have the ability to have multiple users working on different (or the same) areas of your site. The obvious issue here is that the more accounts you have connected to one website; the more ways hackers can get into your website. It is important to know who’s doing what on your site. This can help you identify any anomalies quicker and easier.

You can further assign different permissions to different people. This means that if you want someone to to have access to more of the site than someone else- you can easier do so. One key thing to remember is to never let people share accounts. This means that you will know exactly who is doing what, rather than two or three people who might be doing something.

4- Get into the habit of backing up data.

Backing up your data and work is one of the most simplest tasks you can do that can save you so much trouble and loss. In the event that you become the victim of a cyber-crime, or your website crashes unexpectedly, having a copy of your website’s data and any other personal information is very important.

You should regularly backup your website’s data to be prepared for the worst- and can do so in the following ways:

• Offsite backup- As the name suggests, an offsite backup keeps the copy of your site stored away from the rest of your data. This means that in the event of your data being stolen or compromised, your backup is stored elsewhere so you still have access to it.
• Redundant backup- In a redundant backup, your data is stored in multiple locations. Sometimes a hack can be extended to more than one location where your data is stored. This means that you will always have a backup somewhere readily available to you.
• Regular backup- Instead of backing up once every couple of months, a regular backup will ensure you always have the most up-to-date version of your site saved, meaning you shouldn’t lose a lot of recent work if you need to use a backup.
• Automatic backup- An automatic backup does what it says on the tin. It automatically backs up your data to save you having to do it manually (which is great if you easily forget!).

5- Get an SSL certificate.

An SSL (Secure Socket Layer) certificate does two crucial things for your website; it provides encryption for your data and authenticity to your visitors. Whilst authenticity matters a tremendous amount, in terms of security and protection, data encryption is the one to focus on when buying an SSL certificate.

When your data is passed through several locations to reach a destination, an SSL certificate ensures that data cannot be stolen during it’s journey. This helps keep your website’s data, customer’s information, passwords and any other data out of the hands of anyone who shouldn’t receive it.

If you want to purchase an SSL certificate, you can do so easily with Elite. Some of the perks of buying your SSL certificate with Elite are:

• Strong SHA-2 and 2048-bit encryption
• Secure padlock in browser
• Unlimited 24/7 award-winning customer support
• secure site trustmark to increase customer confidence
• easy-to-access resources such as free SSL checker and malware checker
• Unlimited servers and reissues
• Compatibility with all major browsers and mobile devices
• Removal of Not Secure warning from browsers

6- Use website security scanning tools to your advantage.

Now that you’ve implemented all of these techniques to boost your site’s security- you should look at using an online website security scanner tool. By putting your website into one of these tools, the tool will scan your website’s security protocols and typically give you a ‘grade’ based on how good it is.

However, it does far more than that. Perhaps the best aspect of the tool is that it provides you with elements of your security that can be improved and made far better. You can use this as constructive criticism to improve your security until there are no more improvements that can be made!

7- Buy with a trusted company.

Perhaps the best way to ensure your website’s security is to buy with a trustworthy and reputable web hosting company. In a lot of cases, the companies will take care of all the security for you- giving you peace of mind that your website is as safe as it can be. Many companies will provide an all-inclusive security plan to ensure you get everything you need to keep your site safe.

One of the best, well-regarded website hosting companies to buy with is ELITEWEB.Co. Not only do they offer some of the best, most affordable website security available, but they also throw in loads of great bonuses too! Here are just some of the features you can get by buying with Elite:

• a free SSL certificate
• Malware scanning to monitor for any dangerous activity
• Site clean up and remediation
• DDoS protection and CDN (Content Delivery Network) speed boost
• WAF malware protection

Elite’s Website Security Packages provide you with a complete, all-encompassing and easy-to-use tool to keep your site protected from malware, hackers and other online security threats. Your website really is the center of your business, your brand image and all the amazing things that you are bringing to the world. Because of that it is safe to say that your business deserves complete protection for you and your customers when online.

To conclude:

Hopefully, you now understand the importance of having flawless website security and other security products for your website. 30,000 websites are hacked everyday so you should be doing everything in your power to ensure yours isn’t one of them. It is important to take the time to establish which security plans and features are necessary for your business to be as secure and as safe from any threats that may come your way in the future.