The procedure for creating a business website is fairly cut and dry. You buy a domain, design the site, optimize it for SEO, and publish content that supports your business goals.
You might not be aware of it, but in the process, you’ve opened the door to a world of Internet vulnerabilities. Cyber-attacks are real and common now, and you should understand your greatest areas of weakness to minimize the risk.
You may not even realize you’ve suffered an online assault right away. An attack can come in the form of a site upload, a spammy email, a link on social media, a brute-force raid, and other incursions.
When you’re hit, the hacker could take credit card information, personal details, sensitive client data, and other critical information that can leave you and your customers defenseless. The average cost when a cyber-attack hits a business is near $38,000.
That’s how much money the victim loses, but it often costs another $10,000 to clean up the damage. Some companies never fully recover from such a massive hack.
Recognizing the vulnerabilities is the first step in attempting to stop such an attack. Here are seven ways your website could be at risk.
1. System Downtime
Downtime can also be an indicator of a hacker’s presence. The attack might look like typical downtime, but someone is actually getting access to sensitive information.
2. SQL Injections
SQL injections are among the most common of website security vulnerabilities. The best way to prevent such an invasive injection is with SQL server performance tuning, using IT management software like SolarWinds. This will put developers, DBAs, and operations teams on the same page and prevent injection access. WordPress users can take help of Wordfence Security plugin which comes with a comprehensive protection against SQL injection.
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3. Security Misconfigurations
If there are problems with configurations, hackers can access the data that these security measures are supposed to guard. If the misconfigurations are serious, you could suffer a complete system compromise.
Ensuring proper configuration every step of the way is the best method of sealing unprotected access points.
4. Insecure Direct Object References
To prevent this problem, store your data internally and avoid information passage from the client over CGI parameters. If you must store your data externally, use correct and consistent user authorization.
5. Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
It’s often as simple as getting a user to click on a link or attaching cookies to your site. So, avoid returning HTML tags to the client. Converting HTML entities and other methods of sanitization can also be used to scrub the negative script from your site.
6. Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
To escape these nasty backdoor activities, set up your system so the user must be present when performing certain actions. Measures like two-factor authentication, CAPTCHA, and unique request tokens can also reduce or eliminate backdoor access.
You may also like: Smartphone Security: How to Avoid Smartphone Hackers.
7. Broken Authentication
If through an error in authentication, the cookies fail to delete themselves after the session is closed, the information they contain will be made available on the current system for hackers to collect and use for malicious purposes.
Accessing control checks, eliminating object references in the URL, and verifying authorization to reference objects can prevent such attacks. Use your framework to implement proper protection for each of your website’s users.
Every site faces some kind of risk. By understanding the problems and seeking a solution, you can protect all the sensitive information kept on your website and kept your operation running smoothly.