The internet is a vast but dangerous place. Each second, there are thousands of websites being attacked by malicious hacking attempts. Some of these websites are taken down, some of them are affected by deleting their data altogether, while some of them are hacked to display malicious information on them, or to steal the customer data. So what exactly is website security and how we can take measures to ensure our website is in safe grounds?
List of Security Threats
The following is the list of some of the most common threats that websites face.
XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
An XSS vulnerability affects the end-user and tries to hack into their cookies to steal the website session. Through the access of this cookie, a hacker is able to access the web session the user was being accommodated with by the website. They can then login to the website as if they were the original user, and then steal the user’s data including their name, phone number, credit card numbers and much more. This kind of vulnerability is usually carried out by disseminating scripts in the malicious links via e-mails or social media applications.
SQL Vulnerability Injection
SQL is responsible for putting together the complete database of the website. This database consists of not only the website’s content but also the critical and sensitive information about the user’s details, too. This is usually done by altering the original SQL statements.
Denial-of-Service (DoS)
This is the most common vulnerability a website has to face. It is basically done by flooding the website with lots of requests so that website becomes unstable and is unable to handle any more users. Hence, if a genuine user wants to visit the website, he/she is unable to open the website. It is basically making the information on a website inaccessible.
What can be done?
The first and foremost action any web owner can take is to ensure they have HTTPS protocol enabled on their website. This ensures that the transaction between the end-user and the business is being done on a secure channel. This basically encrypts the information and decrypts on the other end.
The second step is to enable Two-Factor Authentications for each and every user on the website so that no unauthorised person is able to access the website even if they had the password for it.
Last but not the least, there should be vulnerability scanning and security software installed on the website. A good software such as WordFence for WordPress websites can help stop most of the vulnerability attacks a website can face.
