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Running a business with your website causes many different types of scammers, phishers, hackers and other malicious attackers to come out of the woodwork. As a result, network security should be one of your top priorities. When managing network security, you must be proactive in revealing any potential threats that could or are emerging. This begins with a thorough assessment of your website and network.

Ensuring your network and website is secure can literally make or break your business. If your site is breached by a hacker and a customer is scammed, negative word of mouth experience travels great distances; far enough to put you out of business. Security also involves keeping the wireless network at your office or store secure.

Many issues can arise in an unsecured network. Users that do not adhere to the security policy often allow attackers compromise networks. There are many examples of high-profile, large companies falling victim to internet attackers and almost ruining their organization. A few examples include RSA Security, OpenBSD, NASDAQ, Playboy Enterprises and Cryptologic.

In these instances, attackers used the following methods:

• Compromising a poor configuration
• Utilizing traffic
• Attacking specific network component
• Abusing a network
• Accessing user account passwords

Attackers compromised a poor network configuration related to a target host by utilizing scripts and other publicly available exploits. Also, they compromised traffic by evading security measures and using network sniffing methods. Additionally, attackers targeted a specific network component utilizing customized malicious scripts

Furthermore, by abusing the network configuration or bypassing a shoddy firewall, they were able to access vital information from public folders. Finally, attackers accessed user account passwords to concede additional hosts where that user may have an account.

To fully protect your network, you need to ascertain the technical expertise or hire someone with that knowledge, adhere to a security policy and develop an incident response procedure. These will help you prevent most attacks as well as correctly respond to them when they do occur. Once again, it comes down to being proactive as opposed to reactive in these situations.

Network security is one of the most important areas to develop within your website. Having an air-tight security policy and procedures mixed with extensive technical knowledge is like having a tornado shelter at your home. You will be protected in the case of an incident by building a secure, air-tight entity.

With so many choices in the web hosting industry, it can be confusing at times when browsing through potential candidates for your next web hosting provider. Most people are searching for web hosts that offer particular features, such as ample bandwidth and disk space. However, many forget the importance of a secure web hosting solution. Everyone knows how important security is in any online endeavor, yet most people seem to overlook it when considering a web hosting solution. If you’re wise then you will consider the following three aspects of web hosting security when choosing your next web hosting plan.

SFTP

SFTP (Secure File Transfer Protocol) is an updated secure variation of FTP(File Transfer Protocol). Basic FTP is not fully secure, in that the files being transferred could possibly be intercepted by an outsider. In fact, the perpetrator can even change the data within the files, and view the files discreetly without disrupting their path. With SFTP you’ll have an extra layer of security since the files will be encrypted using government standard 128-bit encryption.

SSL

SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is extremely crucial for any ecommerce site. With SSL all private information such as credit card/bank account information, phone numbers, addresses, and email addresses are kept private. Without this kind of security measure in place, you and you’re customers are being left susceptible to credit card fraud and identity theft. In many cases the credit card information can be stolen instantly, and online purchases can be made before the cardholder even knows what hit them. Aside from the lack of security that is associated with not having SSL enabled on your server, you’re also going to lose business. Every site with SSL enabled receives an SSL certificate which is then placed on the checkout page. Many customers look for this when shopping online, and will refuse to shop with you if you do not have this certificate.

Data Backups

Many people realize the importance of backing up their personal computer, however the importance of backing up your websites files is often overlooked. A lot of work is put into building a website, as I am sure you are probably aware of, and you may find it shocking to learn that all of this information can be wiped out and lost forever in just one hour. If you do not backup your data, this data loss would be permanent, and you would literally have to start back at square one! If you want to keep this from happening then you will need to make sure you choose a web hosting plan that automatically conducts routine server backups.

Overall Network Security

When choosing a web hosting plan, the above factors are definitely of great importance. However, there are many more important aspects to consider in regards to overall server and network security. To ensure the safety of your website and your online business, you’ll need to choose a web hosting solution that is reputable and known for having top notch security.