Website owners often neglect to prioritize their online security, failing to protect their blogs and websites from potential attackers. This is often due to two prevailing beliefs:

1. Underestimating the value of their website or blog in the eyes of attackers.

2. Overconfidence in the belief that their website will never be targeted.

Both of these mindsets are fundamentally flawed and should be discarded immediately. Neglecting basic security measures exposes not only yourself but also your customers to severe risks such as identity theft and fraud.

To ensure that you never fall victim to such risks, it is essential to implement six simple yet effective measures to protect your website from potential attackers. While these steps cannot guarantee absolute invulnerability, they significantly reduce the likelihood of a breach:

#1. Protect  Your Website Against SQL Injection

SQL Injection attacks pose a significant threat to your website’s security. These attacks occur when an attacker manipulates a URL parameter to gain unauthorized access to your database and compromise your site.

If you are currently using standard Transact SQL, you are especially vulnerable to SQL Injection attacks. Attackers can easily insert malicious code into your query, exploiting vulnerabilities and accessing your sensitive data.

To protect yourself from such attacks, it is crucial to implement a parameterized query, a security measure readily available in most web languages. Parameterized queries offer a simple yet effective solution.

For example, consider the following common query susceptible to SQL Injection:

This query leaves room for an attacker to append additional queries and execute unauthorized actions. To prevent this, you should parameterize the query. Here’s an example of how to do it using prepared statements in PHP with PDO:

By utilizing prepared statements with parameterized queries, you ensure that user input is treated as data, eliminating the possibility of rogue code injection and fortifying your website’s security.

Taking immediate action is crucial, as the number of compromised websites has increased by 32% from 2015 to 2016 alone. Implementing protection against SQL Injections should be one of your top priorities when it comes to securing your website.

Don’t delay in implementing these preventive measures and safeguarding your valuable data and online presence from potential attacks.

#2. Install A Security Socket Layer

To enhance the security of your website, the most effective approach is to implement a security socket layer (SSL) through the use of HTTPS. HTTPS is a protocol that facilitates secure communication across computer networks, providing a robust shield against potential intruders attempting to access your content.

By employing HTTPS, your users can browse your website with confidence, knowing that their financial information and login details remain secure. This ensures that sensitive data remains protected during transmission.

It is crucial to prioritize the use of HTTPS on web pages where users are required to submit sensitive information, such as login credentials or credit card details. Failure to do so could result in attackers stealing this information and potentially impersonating users.

In addition to the security benefits, enabling HTTPS also positively impacts your website’s visibility. Search engines, including Google, prioritize websites that utilize HTTPS by boosting their rankings in search results. This means that implementing HTTPS not only enhances security but also improves the discoverability of your website.

To summarize, incorporating an SSL certificate and deploying HTTPS is the optimal method for securing your website. By doing so, you ensure the confidentiality and integrity of user data, protecting against unauthorized access. Additionally, adopting HTTPS contributes to increased visibility in search engine rankings, further strengthening your online presence.

By making HTTPS a priority, you establish a secure browsing environment for your users, safeguard their sensitive information, and position your website for enhanced visibility and trustworthiness on the web.

#3. Guard Against XSS Attacks

Cross-site Scripting (XSS) attacks differ from other types of attacks, such as SQL Injection, as they target the users of an application or server rather than the application or server itself.

In an XSS attack, attackers exploit vulnerabilities by injecting malicious JavaScript code into a web application’s output. This code can be injected into various areas like search fields, forums, comment sections, and even cookies. These areas are highly susceptible to Cross-site Scripting.

By injecting the malicious code, attackers can gather sensitive user information stored in cookies. This includes critical data like credit card numbers, session IDs, and login credentials.

To protect against XSS attacks, it is recommended to implement an advanced security development lifecycle (SDL) within your web application. An SDL aims to minimize coding errors and vulnerabilities, thus enhancing overall security.

Another preventive measure is to prompt users to re-enter their passwords before accessing specific pages on your website. Even if a user has a cookie that automatically logs them in, requiring them to re-enter their login information adds an extra layer of protection. This practice significantly reduces the likelihood of a successful XSS attack.

By adopting these security measures, you can fortify your web application against XSS attacks and safeguard user data. Implementing an advanced SDL and incorporating additional authentication steps demonstrate your commitment to maintaining a secure online environment.

#4. Watch Your Email Transmission Ports

Attackers often target your email as a prime gateway to access your sensitive information. It’s crucial to assess the security of your email transmissions and ensure they are adequately protected.

To evaluate the security of your email transmissions, take a moment to examine your email settings. Focus on the ports you use for communication.

If you find that you are communicating through the IMAP Port 143, POP3 Port 110, or SMTP Port 25, it indicates that your email transmissions are not adequately secured. These ports lack the necessary encryption protocols to protect your information.

On the other hand, if you are utilizing the IMAP Port 993, POP3 Port 995, or SMTP Port 465, you can breathe a sigh of relief. Emails sent through these ports benefit from encryption protocols, ensuring the security of your communications.

By being aware of the ports you use for email transmission and opting for the secured options, you can significantly enhance the protection of your sensitive data. Safeguarding your email transmissions contributes to a more secure online experience, shielding your information from prying eyes.

#5. Check your passwords

Ensuring the strength of passwords is a well-known security measure, yet its implementation is not always consistent. It is of utmost importance to utilize robust passwords for your server and website admin area. Equally significant is the enforcement of good password practices for your users, safeguarding the security of their accounts.

While users may not always appreciate it, enforcing password requirements can have long-term benefits for information protection. Consider implementing measures such as a minimum length of approximately eight characters, including at least one uppercase letter and one number. These steps contribute to enhancing the overall security posture.

Remember to store passwords as encrypted values, preferably utilizing a one-way hashing algorithm like SHA. This approach ensures that during user authentication, only encrypted values are compared. For an added layer of website security, salting the passwords is recommended. Salting involves using a unique salt per password, further fortifying the encryption process.

In the unfortunate event of a password breach, the use of hashed passwords helps minimize the damage. Decrypting hashed passwords is practically impossible, limiting the potential harm caused. Attackers are left with the option of dictionary attacks or brute force attacks, attempting various combinations until a match is found. When salted passwords are employed, the cracking process becomes significantly slower, as each guess needs to be hashed separately for every salt + password combination. This computational complexity adds a substantial layer of protection.

Thankfully, many content management systems (CMSes) come equipped with user management functionalities that incorporate essential website security features. However, it might be necessary to configure certain settings or add extra modules to implement salted passwords (prior to Drupal 7) or set the minimum password strength. If you are utilizing .NET, leveraging membership providers is highly recommended. These providers offer extensive configurability, built-in website security measures, and pre-built controls for login and password reset functionalities.

#6. Avoid file uploads

Allowing file uploads on your website poses a significant risk that should not be taken lightly. Regardless of how harmless an uploaded file may appear, it has the potential to contain a script that can compromise your website’s security.

Even permitting users to upload images or avatars introduces security vulnerabilities. If you have a form that enables file uploads, it is crucial to approach each uploaded file with skepticism. Relying solely on the file extension to verify its integrity is inadequate, as images can be manipulated. Various image formats, for instance, allow the inclusion of a comment section that could harbor malicious PHP code.

The optimal solution in this scenario is to prevent direct access to any uploaded files on your website. By implementing this approach, all uploaded files will be stored in an external folder. You can then create a script that locates these files in the private folder before delivering them to the browser.

Moreover, if you choose to allow file uploads, it is essential to utilize the most secure transport methods available, such as SSH or SFTP. Additionally, it is wise to host your database on a separate server from your web server.

In the realm of cloud hosting, many providers offer specialized environments that allow you to control file uploads based on the visitor’s location, determined by their IP address. This feature grants you the ability to block uploads from specific countries, such as China and Iran, while permitting uploads from other locations. Alternatively, you can adopt a whitelist approach and only allow uploads from IP addresses originating from trusted geographies like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, and so on.

#7. Invest in Website Vulnerability Scanners

Incorporating website vulnerability scanners into your security strategy can provide an added layer of protection by detecting technical weaknesses on your website, including susceptibilities to SQL Injection, XSS attacks, and more.

When selecting a website vulnerability scanner, it is crucial to consider several key features.

First and foremost, the scanner should encompass vulnerabilities that extend beyond common ones like Cross-site Scripting. It should also address less prevalent vulnerabilities, such as inadequate directory security.

Moreover, the scanner’s effectiveness hinges on its ability to remain up to date with the latest known vulnerabilities. Regular updates are paramount, indicating that the scanner is backed by a highly qualified team actively countering cybercriminals.

Additionally, scalability is a factor worthy of close attention, particularly if you have numerous applications requiring coverage. The scanner should offer scalability options that accommodate the size and complexity of your infrastructure, whether you have hundreds or thousands of applications.

By carefully evaluating these features, you can choose a website vulnerability scanner that provides comprehensive coverage, maintains currency with emerging threats, and can scale to meet your specific needs. Investing in such a scanner empowers you to proactively identify and address potential security weaknesses, fortifying the overall protection of your website and mitigating the risk of successful attacks.

Conclusion

In summary, here are eight straightforward yet powerful measures to enhance the security of your website against potential attackers.

Implementing these strategies cannot guarantee absolute security, but they will greatly bolster your website’s defenses and reduce its attractiveness to malicious individuals.