You may think that your blog has nothing worth hacking for or have any other malicious attack so as to protect your website from malicious attacks. But you ought to know that all websites are compromised all the time.
A malicious attack is an attempt to forcefully take advantage of someone’s computer out of their knowledge, through computer viruses, social engineering and many others. This can be done with the intention of stealing personal information or to reduce the functionality of a target computer.
According to a similar article by INC on how prevent malicious attacks on your business data, malicious attacks include hacking, malware, adware, spyware, trojan horse, crime ware, viruses, worms and social engineering such as phishing, baiting and spam. In this article, i will share with you some tips to protect your website from malicious attacks of such a kind.
Tips to protect your website from malicious attacks
No one connected to a computer network is really safe from hackers. Here are tips that you can take to protect your system from virus attacks.
1. Keep platforms and scripts updated
A great measure that you can use to protect your website from malicious attacks is to ensure that any platforms or scripts you’ve installed are updated. It is a fact that many of these tools are created as open source software programs, their code is easily available. This code can be accessed by both the developers with good intentions and malicious hackers. To hackers, this code can help them get access to security loopholes that allow them to take control of your website by using this opportunity of the loopholes of any platform or script weaknesses.
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Your web hosting company has a hand in your websites update security
A good host will always keep its servers’ virus protection programs updated and use high level hardware (and software) to keep its clients’ websites safe. It is very obvious that hosting companies are experts in security and it’s their business to handle the security of your website. They are also accountable for any errors and faults and are prepared to make them right.
2. Consider installing a firewall between the Web server and your network
Having firewalls and installing security plugins is a great means of protection for your system. Security plugins actively prevent against hacking attempts and a firewall protects the resources of a private network from other networks. Most computers use an operating system which at least has the simplest form of firewall already on it. You should also take a look at purchasing better firewalls that can be modified. A web application firewall will sit between your website server and your data connection and it will read the data and the traffic that will be passing through it.
3. Lock down your directory and file permissions
Files that are assigned a permission code to give anyone on the web the ability to write and access it is less secure than one which is locked down and restricts everyone except the owner. I know that there are valid reasons to open up such an access to other groups of users but these instances are supposed to be handled in a more care way in order to avoid creating a security risk. Therefore, it is very important to be aware of malicious attacks that might arise through such access points.
4. Use Caution When Using Browser Extensions
Browser extensions are a good and very powerful tools for that customize your browser. However, they are at the same time possibly dangerous. It is therefore very important to use as few browser extensions as possible. This means that you ought to evaluate browser extensions just like you evaluate software that you install on your computer.
In addition to this, it is also important to avoid visiting useless sites and nasty software. It is very obvious that many websites will try to trick you into downloading junk ware instead of the software you’re looking for, therefore you have to be very careful since even legitimate software usually comes along with potentially dangerous malicious threats.
5. Install antivirus on your computers
All computers in your company are supposed to be protected with an updated and trusted antivirus. You computers can be attacked through many routes as emails, file downloads and many others. Also, there are attacks of password compromise that occur when account passwords are stolen using malicious attacks like viruses or malware which are found on local computers from which accounts are accessed. Therefore, in order for you to protect your computers and website from such malicious attacks, you have to install full virus and malware scans in all your computers that access the account. This will ensure that these computers become and stay clean, free from such malicious attacks.
Stay informed on threats and your website will be safe
There are many threats today and they have affected many websites, therefore, in order for you to protect your website from threats, it is very important for you to stay informed and research on what kind of malicious attacks are currently threatening the internet world. It is very evident that malicious attacks are on the rise and new methods of attacks are rising daily on an increased speed.
It is therefore very important to be aware of the different malicious attacks that might be your next attackers. It is also very essential to always ensure that all the security measures of your website are updated and that all your computers are protected. However, having a professional website hosting company will be the best security for your website.
