How To Secure Your Website For Free In 2023
Anamitra(Adi) Aditya Chaudhury
Digital Transformation & Customer Experience
A well designed and responsive website won’t add up to much if not shielded from potential online dangers.?
A secure website is an absolute necessity as you are not keeping your business and reputation safe, but also your visitors. And with numerous hacking tactics, phishing, scams and other online threats getting more sophisticated, you must double your efforts towards improved website security.?
Find out how you can secure your website at no cost – with the help of these recommended free tools and with some of the best website practices!
Install an SSL certificate.
Installing an SSL certificate for your website is one of the most important aspects to secure your website. What does it do??
The SSL protocol (Secure Sockets Layer) establishes an encrypted connection between the web server and web browser. That means, any information exchanged between your website and its visitors is protected, including personal information and payment details for eCommerce platforms.?
Google uses HTTPS (secure websites with an SSL certificate) as one of their ranking factors and tend to prioritise protected websites in a higher position on search results.
The good news is you don't need to put in much effort or money into getting one. An SSL certificate can be obtained and installed at no cost by asking your web hosting provider, domain registrar, or certificate authority.
Always keep your website and its plugins updated.
Outdated websites may pose risks to both, your business and your clients. Potential hackers examine the website's health, and if they find it susceptible, they could feast on its data and functionalities.?
This can be avoided by conducting regular updates on your website. Enabling ‘auto-updates’ is a convenient way to keep your website in check. These updates contain security patches that create an additional layer of protection for your site.?
Content management system (CMS) providers can carry out regular updates for the website, however, we recommend manually supervising all the update installations, including system, plugins, apps, and scripts.
Use strong, secure passwords.
Another way to ensure your website’s security is to formulate a strong and complex password. Make sure to use the strongest set of characters and letters for your passwords, as opposed to the ones that can easily be remembered.
If you are having a hard time building a strong password, one option is to rely on your browser to automatically create one for you that can be saved for future logins.?
Password breaches often come under brute-force attacks, a practice where hackers test millions of characters until they figure out the right combination. A more complex password can prove more difficult to crack than a weak and predictable one.
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Backup your website regularly.
Even after building a strong password, your website might still encounter malicious attacks and hardware failures. In this event, backing up your website can be a lifesaver.?
Should it go down due to the aforementioned reasons, it can still be recovered. Backing up your site involves restoring its core files, media, databases, and other elements present in it.?
Website backup can either be done manually, or can be entrusted to your website hosting provider or a third-party tool. They might even offer you automated backups or backup schedules.
Be cautious when accepting file uploads through your site.
Your website is most likely operated by your fellow entities, and while it's good for productivity, they might be engaging in tasks that could potentially put your website at risk. These include uploading malicious files, deleting crucial files, or uploading large-sized ones that can affect the site's performance.?
While the best practice is to disallow any file uploads, there will be instances where it is necessary. In this case, create a whitelist of ‘allowed file extensions’, use ‘file type verification’, and set a ‘maximum allowable file size’, after which, scan them for malware, rename them upon uploading, and keep the uploads folder outside the webroot.
Scan your website regularly.
There could be some potential risks within your website that you might not be aware of. ‘Website scans’ can help you intercept these online dangers, preventing any large-scale damage.?
Scanning your website regularly can keep your website healthy, free from issues and threats, and help solve probable risks immediately. There are several free website scanners that can be used – the SiteLock Free Website Scanner, Astra Security, and MalCare.
Take advantage of free security tools.
Strengthen your website’s safeguards by running security tools around it. These tools run website safety checks and prevent hackers from installing malware, spyware, trojans, DDoS attacks, and more of these types of ill practices.?
These security tools are crucial in maintaining your website’s safety – all for free.?
Is your website secured??
Website attacks happen without warning. That’s why investing your time and resources to protect your website is imperative.?
And this is what Melbourne’s leading website development agency, Elephant in the Boardroom, excels at. We can help you create a fully functioning and highly secured website that caters to your audience’s needs! A good start is to know how they can help you here.