As a web host we see attacks on websites on a daily basis, most often the website owners are blissfully unaware that their website that they either spent 1000’s on in cash or time and energy is under attacks by some unscrupulous criminal or script kiddie who has learnt some new tricks, often clients who just install wordpress, joomla or any other freely available web
software are the victims.
Why Should I Care about Web Security?
One of the most important, but also the most overlooked features of any website is the security of the information and integrity of data. For whatever reason, people mistakenly believe that once a website is hosted or loaded onto a web hosts servers, is online and is fully functional that the job of internet security is over. Which, simply put, could not be further from the truth. With new zero day threats (meaning threats that are not even a day old yet) appearing all the time, website security is of paramount importance. However, with so many websites that handle critical personal information, such as names, dates of birth, Identity numbers and banking details not really taking an interest in website security it is no wonder that hackers and phishers are exploiting these weaknesses for financial gain and yes some just for the fun of it. By ignoring website security, these companies are practically begging for this information to be stolen or thier website to be defaced.
It’s not just about them, it’s also about You!
To make matters worse, having no or minimal concern for internet security can also have a very detrimental affect on your business’s reputation and integrity in the marketplace. Imagine for a second that because of your lack of security that one of your customers has their identity stolen, while the financial losses to that person can be truly devastating you can almost guarantee that they will tell anyone who will listen that the reason they had their identity stolen was because of negligence on your company’s behalf. Quite aside from the civil and even criminal legal action that could result, who is going to trust their details to your business ever again? So, even if your consumers security isn’t your major concern (and it should be), you owe it to the financial success and stability of your business to invest the proper time and effort into website security.
No-one knows everything.
Often, with small businesses, the person in charge wants to do and control everything. Which is understandable, given the idea that they have taken one of their ideas and turned into a business which they have poured their time and money into. And so as a result, they will attempt to handle web security on their own. This a big mistake. No one person is skilled or qualified enough to handle web security on their own. With new and far more complex threats developing daily, it is important that the webmaster knows when to delegate to far more experienced people who’s job it is to protect websites from such threats. Don’t try to be a hero, the likelihood is that you only know enough to get yourself in trouble.
Any way you slice it, web security is important.
Whichever way you look at website security, whether it is for your customers piece of mind and the security of their important data, or for your reputation and protection against legal action. Or even the success of your business as a whole, it is absolutely vital that you invest heavily in website security.
Please see the following links for more website security advice
10 Ways To Beef Up Your Website’s Security
