Cybersecurity: A good time for Website Security

Some might argue that, technically, website security isn’t their problem. (They already delivered the thing.) But it’s important to understand that low-hanging fruit supports an ecosystem where bad actors can thrive. Don’t trash up the internet, a place where everyone is hustling to make a living.

Web professionals should make sure clients understand what website security is, the risks that are out there, and who’s handling what.

Ready to rip off that Band-Aid? Don’t stress. Let’s walk through this together.

When you have that talk, make sure clients understand and use, at a bare minimum, these website security must-haves:

• Backups — If a website gets hacked, backups let you roll back to an uninfected version of the site. While backups aren’t the solution for every type of hack, they’re a head start toward recovery and often included with hosting plans.
• Strong passwords & 2FA — Seems obvious, but weak passwords are a popular attack vector for hackers. Make sure clients understand how to create and manage strong passwords, and then set up two-factor authentication (2FA).
• Security scanning — Knowing a site is hacked lets you more quickly get started with remediation, preventing further damage. There are many remote scanners available for free, while server-side scanners look deeper into a site’s files and databases.

Website security might not be your specialty, yet having this discussion is the right thing to do by your clients. But what if it leads to a client requesting that you handle website security for them? It’s not as difficult as you might imagine.

SSL is not the end of the conversation

With all the talk today about search engines moving toward SSL as a requirement, clients might think it’s all they need to protect their websites. When you have that conversation with them, be sure to explain that while SSL does encrypt the data exchanged between a website and visitors, it does not protect the website itself.

Locking down security for clients’ websites

Everything we’ve discussed up to this point should help you breathe easier, knowing your clients have a degree of protection for their websites. But there are still a couple things that merit consideration for any type of web presence, large or small:

• Website firewall — The beauty of a website firewall is that it’s continually updated to be able to identify and block even the latest threats. It can also act as a stopgap for outdated components that no longer receive updates from their developer.
• Content delivery network — A CDN not only protects against threats like DDoS, it speeds up a website’s load times. By caching the site at points around the world, content is served from the location closest to a visitor, vastly improving their experience.

Both of these features are included in Deluxe and Ultimate Website Security plans from Dream WebTec. Both also include security must-haves like blocklist monitoring and removal, malware removal, and dedicated live support. With Ultimate plans, you add SSL and one-click restores.