- Install a firewall that has bot protection
Firewalls provide the best defence against hackers. A fire wall is essentially code that identifies malicious requests and blocks them. The firewall is the first thing that your website’s visitors see when they request information. The firewall blocks requests that are malicious or that originate from IP addresses that are known to be malicious.
Firewalls for websites should also include bot-protection. Hackers use bots to sniff out vulnerable sites and automate the process. A firewall will block scrapers and bots such as these, but allow the good bots to access the website.
- Scanning for malware every day
Two things are true about website security: 1) No security system is 100% secure, and 2) The longer malware stays on a site the more damage it causes.
It is important to note that malware scanning can be done with a vulnerabilities scanner.
Scanning your website is the only way to be sure that there has been a hack. A good malware scanner will scan every file, database entry and look for any hacks. You can act immediately if you find anything. For Website Security Checks, visit www.etempa.co.uk/website-security-checks
- SSL for your website
A Secure Sockets Layer certificate (SSL) encrypts communication from and to a website. If you install one, hackers will never be able to understand the data that is intercepted from your site. This is what converts your website from HTTP to HTTPS.
You can find a host who offers one as part of your hosting package. You can also purchase and install an SSL certificate yourself.
- Update all vulnerable software
The vast number of hacks are caused by vulnerabilities within a theme or plugin. Hackers use them to take control of 1000s of websites.
What is a vulnerability then? Themes and plug-ins are software. They are code pieces that, like any software, will have bugs. Some bugs can be relatively harmless, and they may only cause minor problems when updating. Some bugs can make the code vulnerable.
