firewallsMost people assume their websites are safe from hacks and malware. They are probably right. That is, if they manage not to be among the 37,000 websites hacked every day.

My site is no target for hackers

There is a good reason why people are rushing towards securing their websites. Yes, most hackers revere being able to hack popular websites, but they have to start somewhere. Your small or medium sized website is likely to be their training ground.

Spamming your site, stealing social security numbers and credit card numbers are among the things hackers most often aim to achieve.

Being hacked has considerable side effects such as:

• Loss or leaking of sensitive personal and business information
• Blacklisted emails or websites
• The ‘Not Secure’ message pop-up will definitely reduce the confidence of your web users
• Loss of revenue due to reduced ranking.

The leading search engine Google has continued to insist that most people should change their websites to HTTPS. Websites that have not yet migrated to HTTPS are considered insecure, and their search rankings drastically reduce.

Why HTTPS?

HTTPS is an excellent way of securing personal information on lead generation and eCommerce websites. All sites that have or accept any form of payment have to use HTTPS.

Is HTTPS enough?

Despite HTTPS covering primarily all the online business websites, cases of hacks are still growing every minute. The Equifax breach exposing the personal data of about 143 million people is among the biggest hacks witnessed in the United States. Yet the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) obviously had an SSL certificate and seemed airtight.

When it comes to malicious attacks that threaten all your customers and the functioning of your website, hackers are likely to create an access route through your HTTPS. HTTPS is a vital part of website security, but you still need something more powerful to ensure your and your clients’ protection.

The final step to web security

Switching to HTTPS is a critical first step. Despite being mandatory and essential, it is a minimum standard of web protection. You will require first-class data protection if you want to keep your client’s data private. This kind of protection is offered by web application firewalls (WAFs).

Simply put, web application firewalls formulate a set of rules meant to protect your website. These entail:

• Restricting unwanted traffic from gaining access to your site
• Offering protection against brute DDoS attacks, brute force attacks, hacks, SQL injection and cross-site scripting
• Implementing virtual patching before the release of patches by CMS platforms, therefore mitigating exploitation risks.

Web application firewall protection strategies are implemented on a continuous basis and not as a reaction to an attack attempt, giving you assured protection against hacks.

The cutting-edge caching mechanism of WAFs also increases the performance and speed of your site through efficient caching. You end up having an effective, safer and faster website; the dream of most website owners.

Every website owner is potential prey for hackers. Therefore, only having an SSL certificate or a strong password is not enough to guarantee your protection.

The bottom line is that the internet has become a critical business platform and a dangerous one at the same time. Web application firewalls (WAFs) will reduce the chances of your website being hacked. To experience the best web performance at a small price and guarantee the protection of your website down the line, you need web application firewalls (WAFs). Contact us today for more information about this.