Top Website Vulnerabilities and How to Protect Against Them

When it comes to protecting your website against hackers and other people with nefarious intentions, your first step is to know and understand what some of the most common weak spots are. Only then can you take serious steps to close these off. So, in the following blog post, these vulnerabilities are what we are going to focus on, as well how to tackle them. You and your technical team can then tick them off to make sure that you are protected.

Account Weaknesses 

The first issue is an obvious one, but an important one nevertheless. We are referring to account weaknesses. To start off with, this means having weak passwords, so you need to ensure that you are in the habit of setting up strong passwords and changing these on a regular basis. Another security consideration that you can put in place includes a multi-factor authentication system, which can be set up alongside a linked mobile phone number or email account.

Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)

With regards to SSL implementation, it is worth making sure that this is kept properly updated. You should also keep one eye on the certificate expiration date at all times. Be wary of any self-signed certificates as these may not be as secure as their regular counterparts. SSL implementation also has the added advantage of helping to increase user confidence in your site.

Cross Site Scripting (XSS)

Next up, we have the issue of cross site scripting, which may not be one that you are au fait with, but it is important that you understand it in as much detail as possible as it represents another potential point of weakness for your website. As a rule of thumb, you need to be careful about trusting external input. Double check the data displayed by the webpage and take steps to sanitize it. If you are not sure, the experts are always on hand to be consulted to ensure that you get it right. 

Lack of Brute Force Protection

Essentially, brute force attacks operate by automatically inputting a range of password combinations in order to gain access to an account. A human factor verification set up will help to prevent this problem from occurring on your website. This is why you see so many websites with Captcha resolvers and other authentication systems to prevent it. Decide on the system that works best for your website 

These are four of the most common website vulnerabilities out there. Take steps to close these off and this will seriously boost your chances of keeping your site properly protected. Even if you run a small business, you can still find yourself becoming a target. This is especially the case as hackers may think that you are less protected than larger companies. You do not want to overlook these problems until it is too late, so now is the time to take the necessary steps to keep your site well protected and running as it should be.