A hacked website can pose several problems, so you need to take every precaution to protect your site. This includes learning all about website protection and setting up the right protocols and measures.
Recently, ZoneofGenius.com was hacked, and we risked losing all the crucial data and access. Thankfully, everything’s ok now: We have a great team that solved the problem for us. However, I learned an important lesson. It made me think: what if things were not okay? What if we had a hacked website that could not be recovered, and we lost EVERYTHING? This could severely impact our business. This made us realize how paramount it is to implement website protection measures.
In addition to hampering productivity, a hacked website can lead to financial losses, such as the cost of fixing the website, paying for legal fees, and compensating customers who were affected. Hackers could also use your website to send malware to your visitors, which could infect their computers and other devices. A hacked website may also harm your search engine ranking and impact your ability to attract new visitors.
How to Prevent Hacking: 10 Useful Website Protection Tips
In today’s digital age, websites are an essential component for any business or individual looking to establish a presence online. However, with the increased usage of websites, the risk of getting a website hacked has also increased. Hackers use various tactics to gain access to a website and steal sensitive information, create spam or bot traffic, or even bring the site down entirely.
As a visionary business owner, it is your responsibility to know how to prevent hacking and to take necessary website protection measures. In this blog post, we will discuss some of the steps that you can take to prevent website hacks.
Here are a few things to keep in mind to protect your website, especially if it’s built on the WordPress platform:
1. Keep your software up-to-date.
One of the most critical steps you can take to prevent website hacks is to keep all your software up to date. This includes your content management system (CMS), plugins, themes, and any other software that your website uses. Hackers often exploit known vulnerabilities in older software versions to gain access and get your website hacked. Therefore, it is essential to install updates as soon as they become available.
2. Use Strong Passwords
Passwords are often the first line of defense against website hacks. Using weak passwords makes it easier for hackers to gain access to your website. Therefore, use strong passwords that include a mix of upper- and lower-case letters, numbers, and special characters. You should also avoid using common passwords like ‘password123’ or ‘admin.’
3. Use HTTPS
HTTPS is a secure protocol that encrypts data between a user’s browser and the website’s server. Using HTTPS ensures that any data that is transmitted between the user and the server is secure and cannot be intercepted by hackers. Therefore, it is essential to use HTTPS for your website to avoid the possibility of a hacked website.
4. Implement Two-factor Authentication
Two-factor authentication (2FA) adds an extra layer of security to your website login process. With 2FA, users are required to provide a second authentication factor, usually a code sent to their mobile device, in addition to their password. This makes it much harder for hackers to gain access to your website.
5. Limit Login Attempts to Avoid a Hacked Website
Hackers often use automated tools that try to guess login credentials repeatedly. This is known as a brute force attack. To prevent hacking through such attacks, you can limit the number of login attempts that a user can make before they are locked out. This helps to prevent automated bots from guessing passwords and gaining access to your website.
6. Monitor Your Website for Suspicious Activity
Regularly monitoring your website for suspicious activity is a critical step in preventing a hacked website. You should keep an eye on your website’s logs to see if there is anything strange going on, like multiple failed attempts to log in or access sensitive files. You can also use tools like Google Analytics to monitor traffic to your website and identify any spikes in traffic that may indicate bot activity.
7. Use a Web Application Firewall
A web application firewall (WAF) is a tool that monitors and filters incoming traffic to your website. A WAF can detect and block malicious traffic, such as SQL injection attacks, cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks, and other types of attacks. Using a WAF can help boost your website protection as it blocks malicious traffic before it can reach your website.
8. Protect Your IP Address
Your website’s IP address is a unique identifier that allows other computers to connect to your website’s server. Hackers can use your website’s IP address to launch attacks on it, such as a distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack. To protect your website from such attacks, you should use a content delivery network (CDN) that can protect your website’s IP address by routing traffic through their servers.
9. Back Up Your Website Regularly
Regularly backing up your website is essential in case of a hack or other types of data loss. With backups, you can get your website back to the way it was before it was hacked.
10. Use Secure Hosting
Choosing a secure and reliable hosting provider is important to prevent a hacked website. Many hosting providers offer additional security features like firewalls, malware scans, and automatic backups. It’s essential to choose a hosting provider that provides secure servers and regular updates to keep your website safe.
Bonus Tip for Website Protection: Inspect your WordPress Plugins and Themes
Indeed, plugins and themes are a significant part of a WordPress website. However, if you’re wondering how to prevent hacking on your website, know that not all plugins and themes are created equal when it comes to security. Make sure to only use trusted plugins and themes from reputable sources. Additionally, keep them updated to the latest version, as outdated plugins and themes can pose a security risk.
Make it a point to use the security plugins available for WordPress that can help prevent website hacks. These plugins offer features like firewall protection, malware scans, brute force attack prevention, and more. Some popular security plugins for WordPress include Wordfence, iThemes Security, and Sucuri Security.
To boost your website’s protection, remember to remove unnecessary plugins and themes from time to time. While it’s easy to accumulate a lot of plugins and themes over time, having too many can be a security risk. Use only the plugins and themes that you need and remove any that are not being used. This reduces the potential attack surface for hackers and minimizes the risk of a security breach.
Takeaway: How to Prevent Hacking
Not only can a hacked website harm your search engine ranking and impact your ability to attract new visitors, but it can also cause a loss of business, as customers may turn to your competitors instead. Hence, it’s crucial to take the necessary steps to secure your website and prevent hacking attempts to avoid these potential problems.
If you are unsure how to handle the situation, it’s a good idea to seek professional help from a security expert or web developer who can guide you through the process and help you ensure that your website is secure.
