Do you want to know which security measures are most often ignored on business websites? Do you want to keep your business website and its users safe from malicious attackers? Do you want to ensure the safety and privacy of your users’ and company’s data?
One of the best security tips is to create strong passwords. Yet, there are many more security errors that can plague a website. Often, these errors are overlooked because of how minor they seem.
In this guide, we’ll tackle seven of the most common security mistakes business websites make. Keep reading below to find out what you can do to ensure the security of your website.
1. Injection Flaws
The first in our list of common security mistakes are injection flaws. It’s when unfiltered data goes into the SQL server, browser, or anywhere else. Even one malicious input can bring down your entire system if not filtered well.
When an attacker gets wind of a lack of filters on your website, he can inject commands to these entities. You will experience data loss. Plus, your client’s browsers may get hijacked.
Thus, the step to protect your site from bad or malicious input boils down to proper filtration. It’s about the system asking itself many times whether it can trust an input. Note that this can get hairy fast because you’d have to filter all input.
If you use frameworks to filter input, then you’re on the right track. Frameworks do a lot of inspecting and are effective for filtering input.
2. Using Components With Known Vulnerabilities
It pays to research a bit before you use any plugins, software, or tools. After all, having the right knowledge of things can save you a ton of time and resources. This idea extends into finding the right components for your website as well.
Before you settle on a tool or third-party software, find out about its risks. Do a check on the software or plugin’s production team. How long since they last updated the plugin or software?
There’s also no telling when a tool you use becomes a danger, especially if it’s a trustworthy one. This is why you need the latest updated versions of everything. Your website needs updated tools like how you need regular website updates.
3. Not Backing Up Data
Data loss has an immediate financial impact on your website. It also affects your reputation, customer relations, corporate liability, and future business. Natural disasters and hardware failure are two of the main causes of data loss.
You can avoid hardware failure by upgrading your hardware every few years. You can also invest in data backing services that’ll help keep your data safe. Today, the norm is to back up website data on a cloud or to use a cloud database.
For their pay, for example, make sure you keep a pay stub backup. You can use a pay stub template free of charge to keep things simpler.
4. Losing Track of Data Flow
Data is the lifeblood of certain businesses as well as business websites. The loss of data flow presents a huge negative impact on your website. Imagine plunging into the Atlantic Sea when you’ve only known warm climates your whole life.
Failing to may your data flow can plunge your website into chaos and confusion. You lose track of your audiences’ demographics and preferences. You may lose access or control of vital data.
Prevent the loss of data flow by charting it. Have a list of entities that have access to it and its transfer route. Hire only trustworthy cloud storage and remote providers.
5. Having Improper or Lacking in Employee Training
You can’t have an uneducated workforce handling your website security. Otherwise, you’re risking for human error to get amplified by tenfold. It gets even riskier if you have more employees in your team.
To avoid this, prepare and educate your workforce. Create a company-wide process for security and security protocols. Establish security processes that service system and account protections.
One of the biggest security threats to the workforce is phishing. This often happens when a fake or mirrored site receives the victim’s credentials. Train them to see through mirrored sites or portals that present as legitimate ones.
Have your employees do all the checks needed to ensure that a website isn’t a fake one. Remind them that malware, viruses, and spyware are serious security threats too.
If possible, hold annual training to help refresh employee knowledge. When you’re confident your employees have the right know-how, let them handle the situations.
6. Keeping Backdoor Accounts
Backdoor account openings are bad news for everyone, except for malicious cyber-attackers.
Never keep backdoor accounts in your codes, especially administrative entries. You’re putting too many things at risk only for the sake of convenience.
7. Missing a Contingency Plan
The internet is always evolving, and so must the security of your website.
One way to keep your site security up-to-date is to always have a contingency plan. Whenever you hear news of possible development in security breaches, review the plan. If you must alter or add to it, then don’t be afraid to do so.
Let’s take a recent website security issue as our example. Let’s Encrypt is a digital security project that issues Transport Layer Security (TLS) certificates to websites. It helps Google see business websites with TLS certificates as safe HTTPS sites.
In March, Let’s Encrypt warned millions of websites of TLS certificate revocations. This came after they found a bug in the Certificate Authority Authorization (CAA) code. Issues on web security like the TLS certificate revocation will become more common.
The best action websites needed to make was to apply for new certificates as soon as possible. You can also set up an auto-renewal process instead if you can.
Note that a good contingency plan often relies on smart reactionary strategies.
Avoid the Most Common Security Mistakes
Other bigger and more important security issues affect many business websites. However, these common security mistakes need as much attention from you as well. Avoid glossing over the seven website security errors we mentioned.
Now you know the typical security mistakes that business websites make. We hope you picked up something valuable and helpful from this quick guide. If you want to see other content on website security and more, check out our other posts now.
