Website security is one of those things that needs to be addressed (the horror stories of hacked websites are everywhere), but it tends to get put off for many reasons. Some of us underestimate the importance of securing our website, some are afraid it will be expensive, and some think it will be too hard to manage without an IT person on staff. The truth is, website security is critical to your business, but also very easy to implement.
We’ve listed three easy ways to improve your website security:
1. Ensure safe online shopping for your eCommerce customers
As an eCommerce website, you can maximize your sales opportunity by displaying a trust seal. Most website scanning services provide a trust seal to publish on the website’s homepage to show visitors that the website has been scanned and is free of malware and viruses. Trust seals are also used to boost customer confidence.
2. Update your plugins
This is one of the easiest things you can do to protect your website, and also one of the most important. Using outdated versions is the single most common way for a hacker to gain entry to your website, and all your information, and often that of your customers. So make a list of all the plugins and third-party software on your site, peruse it, and purge (uninstall) anything you no longer use. For the ones you do use and want to keep, make sure you have the latest versions and updates installed.
3. Educate your employees about phishing emails
If you are someone who is extremely cautious about opening emails from unknown or large company senders, it may be hard to believe anyone still opens phishing emails or (gasp!) downloads the enclosed attachments. But the reality is that not everyone is aware. And even those who are careful are often so busy and inundated with emails that a few might slip through the cracks. Plus, hackers are getting scary good at impersonating legitimate business emails – PayPal, FedEx, Apple, to name just a few – and luring victims to click on links in order to update account information, track a package, download an important update, etc. All you need is one employee to click on one of these fraudulent download links, and you could be handing over your entire business to a criminal. Financial data for you and your customers – stolen, and your reputation – ruined, in a matter of seconds.
Follow these three easy ways to improve your website security. If you need help with any of the items listed above, give the SiteLock experts a call 855.378.6200. We are available 24/7/365 to help.
Data has always been a currency for crooks but, now more than ever, personal data has become a hot commodity for everyone from petty identity thieves to major organized crime. And one of the easiest ways to get this kind of information is from websites just like yours.
You probably already know that October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month, right? Of course every month should be cyber security awareness month because these days no business can afford to let its guard down. Not for a moment.
Even just thinking about protecting your business from all the cyber threats it faces can be daunting. Where do you begin? Do you start with your website, or is it something more basic like having a security plan? Do you train your employees or lock down every computer and let technology do the work? If critical data has to be protected, which data first? Which data most?
