It is so easy to build a website nowadays. What many people do not realize is that websites are also easy to hack. More than 3,000 websites get hacked every single day. This happens because people who put up websites from free builders do not understand vulnerability. Hackers have also created robots that will hack sites, especially those owned by people not careful enough.
Today, we will take a look at the most common security vulnerability of websites. We will also provide you with defence strategies that you can implement. This way, you can build a website that you want, including sites for betting online, and not worry about security breaches.
1. Broken Authentication
Your website must have a system to authenticate a user. By user, we do not mean people who log in to use the service. What we mean is the admin user. Broken authentication systems are like a broken door. It is as if you have a doorknob or a deadbolt, but they do not work.
Authentication is a huge area of security. You should not attempt to roll out your own authentication code. If you do, these things can happen:
- Your URL might leak a session ID that a hacker can use.
- The passwords may not be encrypted.
- The session identification can be very predictable.
- Session hijacking is possible.
To prevent this, you have to use a framework for authentication. The thing is that you should not build this yourself if you do not know what you are doing. The solution is to buy SSL from a reputable company. This should not be a problem. All companies that sell domain names and hosting services offer SSL. Your first defence against this kind of attack is the very system that the company implements. The good news is that SSL is almost always free.
2. SQL Injection
The most common way for hackers to get inside your website system in getting access to your database. This database is called SQL. For them to get access to it, what they do is called injection attacks. In here, they attempt to insert malicious code or statements. These codes gather information. Later on, they will be able to control the database of the site. Once they succeed in this, they can now modify the information. They can also destroy the system itself.
On some occasions, they do not destroy the website. Instead, they merely get information like customer names, credit card numbers, and many more. They can also change the price of the product without your knowledge. As such, they can buy your product at a really low price.
To prevent this from happening, you have to prepare statements in the queries in your SQL. What happens here is that your system will be able to detect codes that are unusual. If the code is not part of the prepared statement, the system will reject that code.
3. Bad Security Configuration
This is one of the most common problems of website owners. Sometimes, the security system is not configured the right way. It is like having a store with a security guard at the back instead of being at the front door. If this happens, attackers will have a field day. There are many types of misconfigured security systems, such as:
- Unused pages
- Files that are not protected
- Pages that are not encrypted
- Unpatched files and folders
- Defaulted security systems
If attackers know that you have these issues, they will take it as an invitation to attack your website. Apart from these issues, your website may also have problems with web server security, database inconsistencies, network problems, bad storage frameworks, and many more.
To prevent this, you need to use SSL, at the very least. This way, no data transfer could happen unless the connection is not secure. Another thing you can do is to minimize remote work. If you cannot avoid this, you must only do remote work from secured channels. To do this, you have to activate secondary security protocols if your SSL fails.
As a website operator, you must also conduct regular file integrity checks. You can do this on your own if you know how, but this is time-consuming. This is why it is always better to use the security system of your hosting provider.
Another thing you can do is to have a regular security check. There are apps you can use that will scan your website for vulnerability issues. These software programs will check the effectiveness of your security settings and how they behave in specific situations.
Security is of the utmost importance if you are running a website. If you are not a technical expert, your only recourse is to use patches that will create a firewall between your system and hackers. You must also ensure that you upgrade your software whenever there is a new release.
The good news is that hosting services already take care of all these. It is highly advisable to build your website with these companies than building a website from your own server. Also, take the time to review any plug-in that you want to use. These plug-ins are magnets for hackers. They will check if they can use the plug-in as a gateway for hacking. Read reviews of plug-ins and make sure that they are strong enough to resist hacking activities.
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