Steps to securing your hosting

1. Use Strong Passwords

A few simple items that will make your password secure include having a minimum length of 15 characters, using a mix of characters and using random characters.

We recommend using a password creator such as a Strong Password Generatorto ensure your password is meeting the minimum requirements for a strong password

2. Use Unique Passwords

When you have a secure password you should never reuse it for another account, this will protect you if the password is ever “guessed” or revealed.

3. Changing Passwords

If you think your password/s have become compromised then it is highly recommended to change them immediately. This goes hand in hand with not reusing your password as you will only need to change it in one location.

4.Use SSL Security

SSL ensures that the data is transmitted from a computer to the server using encryption. If you are not using SSL (https) on pages that contains sensitive data, or is accessed using a password then this data is at risk of becoming compromised. An SSL certificate prevents anyone from being able to see the data in clear text before it arrives at the server.

5. Keep Software Up to Date

It is a fact that new security issues with software are discovered on a daily basis, the software your website is using is no exception. If you are using any form of website software that required you to install or configure it, then you will need to keep it updated, this also applies to any plugins or themes your website is using. Refer to the documentation for the software being used on how to update it.

Using outdated, vulnerable versions of website software is the single biggest reason for a website becoming compromised. In addition to keeping software updated, it is also important to try to avoid software that has gained a reputation for security issues.

6. Use Security Plugins

You can install a security plugin on most website platforms. Recommend ones can be found in the official documentation and the following.

WordPress – iThemes Security

7. Follow Best Practice

The software your website is using might contain a security guide or checklist (also known as a hardening guide). If it does you should follow this as it contains best practices on how to secure it. Here are some of the guides for a few applications:

• Joomla
• WordPress
• Magento
• Drupal
• WHMCS

You can generally find the official security documentation by searching the internet for the name of the application with ‘security’ after it.

8. Server Security

We take steps to ensure that the server is as secure as possible. We keep the server software up to date, use CloudLinux to completely separate customers websites and each server has a firewall that will actively block brute force attacks. We also make it easy to setup the website with CloudFlare which can assist with mitigating some attack vectors. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.