Making your own website hack-proof is a sensible step in the context of data protection, but also to protect your own work. Hackers can not only steal data, but also cause major damage to a website. This damage can undo months or even years of work in one go. Protecting the website from hackers should therefore be a priority for every website operator.
The error of the safe side
Basically, no website is safe from attacks by hackers. A big misconception that unfortunately persists: Your own website is so small and insignificant anyway that hackers won’t be interested in it. The exact opposite is the case. If data can be stolen somewhere, hackers will be interested in it. Whether it is a small website from a private blogger or a large website from a corporation is irrelevant. Attacks are usually not limited to a single website anyway. Hackers like to attack across the board. The more websites affected by an attack, the greater the chance of success. This is why hackers try to spread their malware as widely as possible. A selection based on website size would only slow them down. In the end, it’s the mass that makes the difference.
How do you protect your own website against hacker attacks?
Of course, one hundred percent security can never be guaranteed. Every website is basically a target for hackers and can fall victim to attacks. It doesn’t matter whether data is collected there or not. Hackers can also inject scripts into third-party websites that start automatic downloads or redirect visitors to another website. So: any website can be affected and should be made hack-proof accordingly. The first step is the simplest, but also one that we mention again and again, as it is nevertheless very often ignored: a secure password. No protection is of any use if the password is “12345”. When building your own website, you should also make sure that you only use building blocks from reliable sources. There are countless themes, plug-ins and editors available online, but not all of them are secure. Choose only secure elements and limit yourself to the bare essentials. Less is more when it comes to using secure parts.
Website Security Check
A so-called website security check should be carried out at regular intervals. This involves a program simulating a hacker attack. The program then displays the possible security gaps and vulnerabilities. In this way, problems can be tackled and rectified individually. Unfortunately, hackers are constantly improving their methods. That is why a website security check is not enough. A problem that is fixed today may arise again tomorrow. Therefore, these checks should be carried out on a regular basis. It is best to create a kind of reminder for this. Website security checks are available free of charge on the internet from numerous providers. For websites that are operated with WordPress, for example, there is the WordPress Security Scan. Other providers include VirusTotal and SIWECOS.
Updates
Software is constantly being developed further. Above all, this includes closing security loopholes. It is therefore important to regularly update the software you use to the latest version. This applies to all forms of software. Not just the website or the server on which the website is hosted. Even the word processing program on your desktop can end up becoming a security vulnerability if it is not updated. Or the images stored on the hard disk with the operating system. If the operating system is not up to date, a virus creeps in and infects an image. You upload the image to your website and there you have it. The best thing to do is to switch on automatic updates for as much software as possible. This can be annoying at times, but not nearly as much as a hacker attack.
Encryption
You are probably familiar with the Hypertext Transfer Protocol. You have definitely come across it several times. However, in the short form: http. Unfortunately, http is not secure as it is an unencrypted protocol. This means that hackers can get between the website and the browser and read it. This is very bad when you are entering your access data. But there is also the Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure. Or: https. To use this, an SSL certificate must be installed on the server. Most providers do this automatically. Another security level is HTTPS Strict Transport Security, or HSTS for short. With this technology, hackers can no longer bypass or disable https. Unencrypted requests from http pages are then no longer accepted at all.
Conclusion
A little effort needs to be invested in the security of your own website. However, this makes more sense than having to repair the damage after a hacker attack. Ideally, you should therefore ensure strong encryption and up-to-date software to make it as difficult as possible for hackers to reach your website.
