As the owner of a website, one of the things at the back of your mind
might be your website’s security. I’m here to bring it to the
forefront. Most site owners are under the mistaken impression that their
website sits on the World Wide Web day after day in complete and utter
safety. Many think that as long as their passwords are kept secret and
secure that no harm can come to their website. If this is you, then be
glad you are reading this article because it could be the thing that
finally convinces you to secure your site.
You likely haven’t put much thought into exactly what the Internet
is. It’s just there to explore when you turn on your computer each day.
You, like so many others, may not realize that the website you are
viewing is hosted on a computer that might be very much like the one you
are on right now. Given this information, let’s think about your
website. Right now, it’s sitting on a computer somewhere. Very likely
this computer is fairly secure (if you have a decent host), but if you
think that computer is not at risk, then you are avoiding reality.
Hackers and viruses aren’t the only ways that your website could be
damaged or destroyed. Hosting companies make mistakes every day. Just
one employee who doesn’t know what he or she is doing could bring down
your site. And it doesn’t just have to be hosting company employees. If
you have employees that work on your site, they are only human, mistakes
can be made. Ruining or deleting a site is not difficult to do. It also
wouldn’t be difficult for a disgruntled employee to take their revenge
by damaging your website.
Now back to that computer where your website is hosted. Let’s imagine
that your website is hosted on your own computer. Has it ever crashed?
Is it immune to crashing, overheating, getting destroyed in a fire? No?
Well neither is any other computer on which your website may be hosted. I
can almost hear your next question: “But isn’t my host responsible for
keeping my website backed up and secure?” The answer is a resounding
“No.” That responsibility rests solely with you, the website owner.
There are a plethora of things that could possibly happen to the
computer on which your website is hosted, many of which could severely
impact your business. The best thing you can do to ensure that this does
not happen is to back up your website. Research methods of securing
your website and implement them, or hire someone to do it for you, but
most importantly back-up your site. Any security plugins, or programs
can fail, but having a copy of your website and your website’s database
is absolutely crucial if the unthinkable happens.