In the modern age, businesses are conducted online. Much like a shop, website safety needs constant look after (if we want to run our businesses smoothly).
By 2023, website security spending is expected to boom up to 151.2 billion US Dollars. Such high spending on security results from the carelessness of businesses to keep a check on their websites.
As a result, cybercriminals seize the opportunity and inject malware and spyware into their systems.
Before we understand how to overcome this problem, let us first understand why we need to secure our website?
Why Do We Need to Protect Our Websites?
In 2018, Google came up with a warning. The internet giant stated that those websites that do not have an HTTPS in front of their URL would automatically get a dip in their search rankings.
Business owners needed their websites to rank on the top of SERP, which is why most of them moved from HTTP to HTTPS.
So, if you do not protect your website, you won’t rank high in Google’s SERP. Moreover, you will get marked as unsecure, which means that customers won’t trust you with your products and services.
So, by protecting your website, you maintain your search rankings and the customer’s trust.
How to check the website’s safety?
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Check the URL
URL determines where you are headed. Most people don’t bother to look at the URL and visit the website.
Hackers know this for a fact and use the URL similar to your website to redirect them to malicious websites without the user’s knowledge.
Visitors then share all their information without hesitation because they believe it to be an authentic website.
Some websites even imitate original ones by replacing alphabets with numbers, such as G00gle.com or 1plus.com.
So, check your website’s URL and ensure there are no mistakes in it.
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Ensure the presence of HTTPS
HTTPS or Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure is a security protocol that depicts that the website has SSL certificate installed.
An SSL or Secure Socket Layer protects a website from MITM attacks by encrypting the information transferred between a website and a server.
HTTPS gives the visitor a sense of satisfaction to ensure that their sensitive information is safe and secure.
HTTPS satisfies your customers and search engines like Google, looking to provide a safe environment to their users.
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Don’t blindly trust “trust” badges.
On eCommerce websites, you would generally find a trust seal that indicates that the website complies with PCI/DSS guidelines and has an HTTPS.
However, by looking at a trust seal or badge, you should not satisfy yourself as a consumer.
It is best to check the authenticity of that badge by clicking on it and see if it redirects you to a verification page.
As a business owner, you must ensure that the trust badge is earned from an authentic source and comply with all guidelines.
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Check the website’s privacy policy.
Reading the privacy policy list may sound a bit time-consuming as a customer, but if you want to get assured of your data safety, you must read the privacy policy.
A privacy policy is a list of rules and regulations that all websites (especially eCommerce) must comply with to maintain authenticity and customer trust.
Most trusted websites have a detailed privacy policy containing all the rules and guidelines they comply with.
There are plenty of government laws in the policy that tells how strictly a website follows government laws.
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Beware of malware signs.
Hackers won’t choose the mode of attack according to your convenience, so you must consider all their possible options.
Here are a few signs that tell you that the website you are visiting has malware:
- Clone websites
Cybercriminals deceive the users by creating clone websites that contain the same information, logo, theme and layout as the original one.
Users think that they are visiting the correct website and end up giving their information to the hacker.
- Unsolicited links
Cybercriminals will try to trick users into clicking unsolicited links that contain viruses. Those viruses get further injected into the system and manipulate them.
- Ads
Ads, in general, are not bad. But, when you find illegitimate advertisements that you did not even search for in the past, that is alarming.
Genuine ads always pop up in contention with your Google search. Search engines only show you those ads that you have some connection with.
But, in fraud websites, ads are illegitimate.
- Phishing websites
Phishing websites look legit because they imitate frequently visited websites like banks.
Hackers redirect users to such websites to make them enter their sensitive information such as bank detail and credit/debit card numbers etc.
The best way to figure them out is by looking at their URL, as every website has a separate URL.
- Use tools to manage your security
Antiviruses provide a great deal of security to websites. They have browser extensions that allow you to steer clear of malicious websites.
Before visiting a suspicious website, antiviruses ask you whether you want to continue through a website or go back.
Many reports have shown that antiviruses slow the internet speed and sometimes irritate users by asking for permissions on every step.
If a user wishes to keep data safe then, antiviruses in tandem with an SSL certificate work best.
To Conclude
In order to succeed in 2021, businesses have to find ways to deal with cyberattacks. If a company collects customer’s data, the responsibility of keeping it safe lies on it.
Hackers will keep finding new ways to attack websites, and search engines will keep on restricting websites from working in a free flow.
But, after facing all these things, websites that can still come out on top will survive.
Taking website security measures is no longer viewed as a responsibility but as a necessity to conduct businesses.
So, follow the tips mentioned above and protect your business from unwanted cyberattacks in 2021.
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