Website Security

Where a website domain serves as a foundation to your online presence, a content management system populates it with useable and marketable assets.

One of the most common trends I find taking on new clients – and even reiterating campaigns with existing ones – is their ongoing content management and security practices, or lack thereof.

I’ve had past clients state they’ve misplaced their domain information or CMS logins, and others that are lacking crucial knowledge regarding the exact role these two key products play in their online presence.

The following 3 steps will stop you becoming a victim of the vast majority of common online attacks:

1. One of the best ways to protect yourself against security breaches is to utilise password management software, like 1password. These programs store all your passwords in one place and encrypts them, which means they’re safe from data breaches or personal memory loss.
2. The next step is to optimise and constantly update your CMS security settings. The best recommendations we’ve come across for our own personal use have been posted by Yoast for WordPress 4.0.
3. Finally, encrypting your website and domain services with an SSL Certificate is a crucial starting point, particularly for e-commerce merchants. Not only does this help protect users personal information, but it also increases the value of your website in organic search queries.

Allowing your content management system to fall into the wrong hands can open the doorway to a whole host of potential exploits. We’ve all seen it before: the PlayStation network attack of 2011 (77 million users compromised), or the 2013 Target network breach (70 million users compromised). No one is safe, and attacks like these will only grow as the world becomes more and more digitally integrated.

At the end of the day, your website and online presence is an asset just like any other. They can be just as valuable to your livelihood as your car, house or savings. As such, every measure should be taken to make sure they’re all up to date and adequately protected.