{"id":5248,"date":"2018-11-29T11:00:54","date_gmt":"2018-11-29T19:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/?p=5248"},"modified":"2024-01-23T14:56:47","modified_gmt":"2024-01-23T19:56:47","slug":"the-basics-of-cybersecurity-for-website-owners","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/the-basics-of-cybersecurity-for-website-owners\/","title":{"rendered":"The Basics of Cybersecurity for Website Owners"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\nThe<\/p>\n

Cybersecurity has been all over the news in recent years, and for good reason. With large companies like Equifax, Lyft, and Facebook getting hacked, millions of people have had their personal information compromised.<\/p>\n

If you think that your business website is safe because it\u2019s not big enough to be targeted, you\u2019re wrong. There is no job that is \u201ctoo small\u201d for hackers. They want data and they don\u2019t care where it comes from \u2013 and small businesses are often an easy mark.<\/p>\n

In fact, a recent study from security firm Sitelock revealed that the typical small business website is attacked 44 times a day<\/a> and software \u201cbots\u201d are visiting these sites globally an average of 152 million times a week. Yikes!<\/p>\n

So what can you do to keep your site safe? There are lots of different hosting platforms out there, but for the purposes of this blog, we\u2019re going to focus on WordPress.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s jump right in:<\/p>\n

Install A Quality Website Security Tool<\/h2>\n

There are a lot of different security packages which allow you to scan your website or blog for malware, trojans, viruses, and online threats. Many of them are completely free. WordFence<\/a> is one that we recommended.<\/p>\n

Once you\u2019ve installed the plugin, it constantly scans all of your files, themes, and plugins for malware infections. If it finds any sort of threat, it will notify you immediately. And, as an added bonus, it claims to make your site 50 times faster and more secure.<\/p>\n

Restrict Access To Your Website<\/h2>\n

Admin access to your website isn\u2019t something that should be granted to just anyone. In fact, there are probably a very limited number of people who actually do need it (typically only you and your web manager). If you need an employee or contractor to make changes to your webpage or blog, there are other levels of access they can be granted \u2013 without access to all of your confidential information.<\/p>\n

Install A Firewall Plugin<\/h2>\n

When you install a firewall plugin, it applies a set of rules to HTTP conversation. These rules help protect your site from hacking, brute force and distribution denial attacks. There are dozens of different options available for WordPress, and many for little to no cost \u2013 so there is no reason not to protect yourself.<\/p>\n

Always Run The Suggested Updates On Software and Plugins<\/h2>\n

Whether you run a website or own a computer, you receive update notices on a regular basis. Often, those updates contain fixes for known security errors or vulnerabilities in the system.  And when you don\u2019t run them, you leave your website vulnerable to hackers.<\/p>\n

We understand that life happens and sometimes these things just slip your mind. Luckily, WordPress makes it easy to keep things up-to-date. Plugins like WP Auto Update Plugin<\/a> automatically update all of the plugins on your site, with no setup required.<\/p>\n

Hide Admin Pages<\/h2>\n

Just like admin access, your admin pages don\u2019t need to be available for everyone. In fact, it\u2019s where all of the important information is kept \u2013 so you want to keep it as hidden as possible. To do that, mark those pages as \u201cinvisible\u201d so they\u2019re not picked up and indexed by web crawlers, and give them a name that\u2019s not easily recognizable (definitely not \u201cwp-admin\u201d).<\/p>\n

Keep Everything Backed Up<\/h2>\n

Last, but not least, save everything you do. In the event of a catastrophic loss, you want to be able to restore your site to exactly where it was before the loss. Creating regular WordPress backups is the best thing you can do for your website. Backups give you peace of mind and can save you in an unforeseen circumstance when your site gets hacked or you accidentally lock yourself out. There are several free and paid backup plugins for WordPress, and most of them are fairly easy to use.<\/p>\n

Bottom line: all it takes is for one crafty hacker to gain access to your site and – poof! – all your hard work is destroyed. Even worse, your personal information and that of your clients may be compromised. All it takes is a few simple measures to keep you and your site safe.<\/p>\n

Reach out<\/a> to learn how InMotion Hosting can assist with bringing secure hosting for your website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cybersecurity has been all over the news in recent years, and for good reason. With large companies like Equifax, Lyft, and Facebook getting hacked, millions of people have had their personal information compromised. If you think that your business website is safe because it\u2019s not big enough to be targeted, you\u2019re wrong. There is no Read More ><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[371,254],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5248","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-security","category-tips-and-advice"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Basics of Cybersecurity for Website Owners | InMotion Hosting Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Protecting your website from a cyber attack is an important part of running a successful website. 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Learn today how to prevent your website from being hacked.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/the-basics-of-cybersecurity-for-website-owners\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"InMotion Hosting Blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/inmotionhosting\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-11-29T19:00:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-01-23T19:56:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.inmotionhosting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/website-cybersecurity.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"InMotion Hosting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@inmotionhosting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@inmotionhosting\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"InMotion Hosting\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Basics of Cybersecurity for Website Owners | InMotion Hosting Blog","description":"Protecting your website from a cyber attack is an important part of running a successful website. 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