There are multiple reasons why you may select a dedicated server for your business; however, the most crucial factor when it comes to the selection of a dedicated server is the control offered. Unlike the shared hosting platform, the dedicated server is completely yours and you can configure it as per your requirements. Although a dedicated server provides with complete remote desktop and console access, the level of control provided also comes in with a lot of responsibility.
If multiple accounts are present on a hardware server, just like in a shared hosting or a VPS hosting package, your hosting provider should ensure the performance and security of the sever. When you opt for cheap dedicated server hosting, along with the web hosting company, you also have the responsibility of protecting the server from any kind of online threats and plan on the necessary steps to avoid any kind of security breach.
In order to provide you with an insight on the security landscape that surrounds the dedicated server functioning; security threats along with the respective solutions are mentioned in this article. Read on to understand the three most common types of security breaches for any dedicated server hosting environment.
The denial of service attack (DoS) can have a grave effect on your dedicated server hosting service
Some security threats are designed for the purpose of stealing data and facilitating other crimes like credit card fraud or black market data sales. However, one common form of online attacks is designed to create a little more damage than resulting in the large-scale disruption of your business.
If you need a dedicated server, it is evident that your website has a growing online reputation. With the growing reputation, the result is that your server becomes the main target for DoS attacks.
A denial of service attack results in the failure of service and unavailability of the website by flooding the system with traffic. A DoS attack comprises of many malicious computers working together for flooding your server with traffic. This also results in the waste of hardware resources and on the whole, a negative impact is created on the legitimate and loyal customers.
The first step of defense against a DoS attack is making sure that you select a dedicated server that is deployed on the best quality hardware and offers with sufficient system resources.
You should also take the steps mentioned below:
- Ensure that your hosting provider offers with a firewall for blocking the malicious data before it gets to your server.
- Monitor your server for any signs of unexpected traffic increase.
DoS attacks are one of the most recurrent threats to your server stability. Some of the most dangerous security breaches are those that start within your server.
Breach of security as a result of malware on your dedicated server
Since a dedicated server enables the customers to install the desired applications with ease, it is prone to malware.
Malware consists of many types of software coded for creating in order to steal data from your server. This term is used for referring to viruses, worms, trojans and spyware. The functionality of these applications might vary but they surely include the recording of every action or copying the most critical and confidential databases.
At times, malware can be combined with legitimate scripts and applications. Therefore, you must make it a habit to scan the files before running them on the server.
You must also do the following:
- Search for a hosting provider that offers ongoing vulnerability scanning or real-time server monitoring. Select a good web hosting package, Read – ‘Beginners Guide to Choosing a Web Hosting Service’ for complete information on selecting the best hosting package with abundant hosting resources and good security.
- The web hosting provider should check your website on a regular basis and they must check for unusual advertisements and invisible frames.
- Consider testing all the software applications on a secured and isolated home device before you upload it to the website.
Do not ignore the risk of dedicated server hosting password breach
The modern hackers and criminals have become brilliant and sophisticated. They have the backup of advanced tools and technology for destroying your data and your online reputation as well. Many attackers can get into your dedicated server account with the help of one of the most effective tools : your password!
Unfortunately, many dedicated server owners do not have a strong password. As a result of this, the hackers can easily obtain the passwords with or without the help of any software and thereby they gain access to the data.
Ideally, there are two elements to a good password:
- Restrict the use of words, terms or phrases that can be found in a dictionary. It’s preferable to have a random combination of upper case and lower case characters and numbers as this makes it extremely difficult for a hacker to get to your password.
- Do not use the same password for a long period of time. Change the password every two weeks and change it to a completely new combination of characters.
You should also do the following:
- Use different type of passwords for every element of the dedicated server. Select one password for mail access, another for control panel, a different password for your FTP account and so on. Thereby, you can ensure that a hacker cannot gain complete access even in case of password breach.
- Wherever possible, login through a secure SSL connection
- Whenever you enter the password, check the web address and web page content of the website, you must make sure that it should not be a phishing website.
- Do not access your hosting control panel through a link in an email. Preferably, you should enter the web address manually.
The points mentioned in this article are just three common security concerns present in a dedicated server hosting package. It is important for you to spend some time in researching on the latest online security topics.
Secure Dedicated Hosting By MilesWeb
Although control and security are two major selling points for a dedicated server, too much control without any experience results in gaps in the security of your server. In order to provide a perfect solution to this, MilesWeb provides with full-fledged dedicated server hosting services along with exclusive customer service and complete security. Website owners have an option to buy dedicated server hosting services in India, UK and USA.
