Step 5 from the 7 Day Sequence: 7 Easy Steps to Secure Your Website
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Did you read the previous five posts? We are getting closer to the last step of the security week and today we will reveal one of the most fundamental conditions for your secure web presence. Step 5: Choose a Reliable Hosting Partner.
Hosting is long not used as a synonym for disc space anymore. It is now your website’s home! Approach choosing a home for your website just like when you choose a home for your family and take into consideration all the details. Do not compromise on anything!
Your website’s hosting should be reliable and provide all the necessary conditions for proper operation. Also, it is very important what types of tools for increasing security your hosting provider may offer.
But how to choose a suitable hosting partner?
There are some key features and services you should always have in mind when you are looking for a hosting provider:
Reliable infrastructure
- Reliable disc storage (data backup).
- Reliability of primary and backup network connectivity.
- Cutting edge equipment.
Defense against DDoS attacks
DDoS attacks are more and more often used as a tool for disruption of the websites’ proper operation. A well-organized DDoS attack may cause service interruption for all customers of a given hosting company or at least most of them.
An effective DDoS protection does not only keep you safe from direct attacks to your website, but also from attacks to other websites in the same infrastructure which might indirectly affect you.
Defense against Brute-force attacks
Every day different services such as FTP, Mail, cPanel are subject to thousands of attempts for password guessing by malicious bots. Having effective defense system might considerably reduce the chance of password guessing for your website.
Web Application Firewall (WAF)
This is protection at a web server level, preventing from the most common vulnerabilities in systems. If your hosting provider has a well-configured WAF, this can keep you safe from security breaches even when you miss updating a plugin or system on your website.
Backup
Yesterday we told you more about the importance of backups for the security and overall performance of your website. Here hosting also plays an important role so you would better check:
- Does your hosting provider regularly perform automatic backup?
- How often?
- Do you have access to manually modify the backup?
Scan for viruses and malicious content
Regular scan for viruses or malicious software is not offered by every company. If your hosting provider offers this option, it will definitely save you time and money.
Regular scan is one of the few ways for timely detecting if your website is compromised
Technical Support
This is one of the most important criteria when choosing a hosting provider! If you end up in a situation requiring assistance from your hosting company, the quick and adequate solution of your problems depends on the company’s technical support.
Personal data protection
The issue of storing and processing personal data became especially popular in relation to the new GDPR regulation. It is crucial when it comes to using services that require collecting and processing personal data. You should always make sure the hosting services you use are in full compliance with the GDPR. Do have in mind that the hosting company shall be a controller regarding your data as the user of their services. With regards to the personal data you process and store on hosting servers using such services, the hosting company shall act as a processor. In this case you shall be the controller regarding personal data.
Do you still hesitate about your choice of a hosting provider?
Do not compromise on the hosting service quality since it is directly related to your web projects’ success. Carefully check for the above mentioned conditions and do not forget that customers are the best proof of the quality for a certain hosting service.
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