If you think that your website is safe from any hacking attempts, think again! With a rise in the hacking attacks, your website is vulnerable and there is a chance of your website getting compromised. Various website security measures are the rise and they are for your website’s own good.
Google has also been emphasizing on the factor that every website should switch to HTTPS; this means that every website should have an SSL certificate installed on it. Google gives prime importance to websites with ‘HTTPS ‘ and not having an SSL certificate installed on your website might result in a decrease in your website’s search engine rankings and there are also chances of your website getting flagged in various browsers and thereby, it will be determined as not a safe website to browse. If a big red warning is displayed along with your website, your website viewers are not going to feel very confident and comfortable browsing your website or purchasing from your website.
Here is how Chrome displays a website that is not safe:
Having your website URL starting with ‘HTTPS’ is a great way to display the credibility of your website and it is also an important attribute for any website that collects customer information; this includes all the ecommerce websites and the lead generation websites as well. Basically, if you have a form on your website that has to be filled by the customers or if you accept any kind of payments online, it is mandatory for you to have an SSL certificate installed that denotes your website with HTTPS. This also holds true for every kind of business website out there.
Having HTTPS is not enough!
If you have HTTPS installed on your website, you might be of the opinion that your website security is completely taken care of! But that’s not the case! HTTPS is surely an important layer of website security but your website needs something more. Website security is a hot topic right now that is discussed by many website owners and experts. There is news of big website hacks coming in all the time. Most of the business websites and ecommerce store websites stand at a risk of identity theft and Equifax breach. Even though a huge business website looks secure, that might not necessarily be the case. The Equifax breach hack was executed even in the presence of an SSL certificate. The truth is that HTTPS will not be able to always stop the hackers from infiltrating your website database. HTTPS cannot stop the malicious attacks that can get your whole website down and steal all your critical customer information; therefore, you need something extra to safeguard your business website.
What you need is a web application firewall!
If your website is already working with HTTPS, you have taken the most important first step. If your website is not working with HTTPS, you need to do that right away! Having HTTPS on your website is the minimum security measure and once you have done that, it is time for you to take the next step! To go the extra mile in terms of your website security – and that is investing in a web application firewall. The web application firewall consists of a set of rules that are designed for protecting your website. They include:
- Blocking the unwanted web traffic from getting to your website
- Protecting your website against hacking attempts, brute force attacks, DDoS attacks, SQL injection, cross-site scripting and zero day exploits
- Performing virtual patching before the official patches are released by the popular CMS platforms
All this is done on a regular basis and not on a reactive basis and this ensures complete security of your website. In simple words, a web application firewall can detect an attack and prevent it before the attack is successful. And even after all this, if a hacker manages to infiltrate your website, a web application firewall (WAF) will help you to clean your complete website faster and at an economical price.
There’s more to a web application firewall – A WAF also enhances the website speed and ensures efficient performance through the advanced caching technology. After having a web application firewall for your website, your website is faster and safer, and these two are the most important attributes in the international web world today.
You might think that your website is not a target for the hackers and you don’t need a web application firewall!
You might THINK that your website is not at risk but the TRUTH is something else! Many website owners are of the opinion that hackers usually target big websites. After all what is a hacker really going to get by infiltrating a website that only gets a few visitors in a month? The answer to this question is that a hacker might get a lot more from your website than you think. In today’s world, most of the hackers don’t just go behind the big data but they also try to steal the social security numbers and credit card information of people within a single shot.
A wide range of hacking attempts occur for relatively less harmful purposes. For instance, many hackers infiltrate your web server for sending out a huge number of spam emails. The hackers might inject an unwanted code that affects the website performance and reliability.
Also, a website hack can result in this warning – ‘This site may be hacked’ in the Google search results and this comes with a huge number of negative impacts like:
- Loss or destruction of data
- Decrease in customer confidence
- Breach in sensitive information and customer information
- Your website or emails getting blacklisted
- Huge drops in your website’s search engine rankings
- Lost business and lost revenue
In most of the cases, hackers don’t really want to hurt your business, but if your website is vulnerable, you will certainly encounter the negative impacts mentioned above.
It is a fact that your website is a target for hackers irrespective of how big or small it is.
Conclusion
Your website is your idea that you have implemented and it stands at a risk of getting hacked; therefore it is important to safeguard it with all the security measures. You are a prospective target for the hackers simply because you have a website. Having strong passwords for your website and installing an SSL certificate on your website is not enough to protect your website completely. Just like the internet is important to get a lot of business, it has its own hazards as well. So in order to protect your website and to ensure the most efficient performance, it is essential to have a web application firewall. This is a small price to pay for protecting your website from the hacking attempts and thereby incurring huge expenses in the long run.
Haven’t tried a web application firewall yet? MilesWeb provides you with a free trial of a WAF, check out for yourself what a WAF can do for your website!!
