It is vital to keep your site secure, whether you are a business that operates online or if you simply want to promote your services. By performing a few simple checks and making a few fixes, you can protect yourself and your customers from malware and scams. This is a great way to ensure you do not miss out on any business from tech-savvy customers that are aware of what signs to look for when a site is safe and secure.
- Secure with an SSL Certificate
It’s important to secure your website. Google Chrome started flagging websites that didn’t have SSL (secure sockets layers) a couple of years back. SSL is basically a technology which ensures all data that passes between a server to a browser stays secure. This could include anything from credit card numbers to passwords. SSL ensures that all data passing between a server and a browser (which could be anything from a password to credit card details) is kept secure.
It’s the duty of a website owner to keep customer and employee details secure. But, if you don’t, it will turn away most visitors. A pop-up warning users not to share their information is displayed alongside the red error.
- Update plugins, extensions and other software
It is important to remember to update all plugins and extensions. This is an easy but vital fix. Hackers are specifically looking for security flaws in older versions of plug-ins. This is similar to updating your operating system on your smartphone. For a Website Security Check, visit https://www.etempa.co.uk/website-security-checks/
- When possible, use 2-factor authentication and secure passwords
It’s important to use a unique and secure password for every log-in. But it’s easy not to remember if it isn’t in your mind. Use a mix of lower and upper case letters and numbers, punctuation and other characters to create unique passwords. It is important to change your passwords periodically (and when an employee leaves the company).
Adopting two-factor authentication (2FA), is a great way to make your website as secure as possible. It can be annoying, but once you get used to it, it will become second nature.
- Consider using email captchas
Email captchas can be a good way to separate spam from genuine inquiries.
They’re also a great way to stop spam comments on blogs, and make online shopping safer.
You can choose from a variety of email captchas. Ask your web developer for their advice and to add the captcha to your website.
