Website Security is an essential component of your online performance; more importantly, having the right level of security in place ensures your customer data is not compromised by hackers, crashes and human error. In this blog, we highlight the key areas we recommend having in place as a minimum – these are all included in the annual security packages we offer.
Maximising your Website Security
1. Ensure you have Regular Backups in Place
Backing up your website provides the main failsafe when an issue arises on your website. Whether the problem stems from a human error, compatibility problems after a new update or malicious attacks, a backup will enable your website to be completely restored.
Check into your website hosting package and make sure daily backups are included. If not, an option to consider is setting up weekly backups to your Dropbox account. This will ensure that if your website goes down, you will have a back-up that is a maximum of 7 days old ready to go live.
However, daily backups are really something your website hosting should include, so talk to your hosting provider or web developer on this as soon as possible.
2. Add an Extra Layer of Security with Wordfence
Cyber-attacks are becoming more sophisticated and successful every day. Unfortunately, there is a significant increase in the number of sites getting hacked – a recent Wordfence report found that there were 90 billion malicious login attempts from over 57 million unique IP addresses over the course of a year.
We all understand that as business owners or managers, we need to ensure our business and customer data is safe. A plug-in that we find to be very effective in this regard is called Wordfence Premium Active Firewall. This plug-in identifies and blocks any suspicious traffic before it gains access to your website. The cost for this plug-in is around €100 per year, but it is definitely a worthwhile investment.
We also recommend adding Two-Factor Authentication to your website as it adds an extra layer of security; TFA requires validation when there is an attempted login to your website from a suspicious IP address.
3. Pre-empt WordPress Updates
WordPress updates are a core component of your website’s stability and security. While these updates are designed to enhance the user’s experience, if they are not pre-empted and managed, they can negatively impact on how your website looks and functions.
It is important to be aware of any major WordPress updates planned, and to undertake regular checks on your website to ensure any updates have not hampered how your website is displayed and functioning.
Looking to learn more about managing your WordPress website? You might be interested in this helpful article.
Make Sure Your Website is Fully Secure!
Many businesses can get caught up in the excitement of seeing their new website come to life, and security may be an after-thought. That is why we offer a robust website security and update package as part of our suite of website development services at Márla Communications. If you are interested in working with us on your new website, or would like to find out more about our website security packages, please get in touch at info@marla.ie or call us directly on 051 853 650 and we would be happy to delighted to talk to you!
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