Importance of website security

More than ever, protecting your domain is important. A website contains sensitive information, records, and even administrator privileges if penetrated by skilled malicious actors. More importantly, depending on the industry you operate in (such as fiscal or medical), serious penalties can occur if you fail to maintain website security.

Furthermore, healthy website security is profitable. For example, good website security ensures minimal downtime and that your operations run smoothly on a predictable basis. Additionally, strong, secure websites have better engagement and rank better for SEO (search engine optimization). That maintains healthy traffic and increases customer service opportunities and business potential. Also, you’ll avoid getting tagged as an unsafe domain by security checks.

Common ways to improve website security

There are several simple but effective ways to begin boosting cybersecurity measures for your website.

Implementing Access Control

Who can modify what in a development environment is critical for good website security. Limiting access to proper individuals ensures data and functions stay secure. Much like partitioning a network, keeping dev tasks and backend website administration localized to approved users reduces risk of breach and information spread. In other words, strong user permissions prevent unauthorized users from making unsafe changes or adjustments to the website security architecture.

Other forms of access control include implementing MFA features for all relevant staff. Multifactor authentication is a universal security tool used in virtually all settings. Combined with trimming access permissions, you can better control internal navigation and admin functions.

Secure Foundational Programming and Building

The essence of building your website (or making adjustments) should always maintain a secure perspective. Much of this comes down to policy, data management, and admin philosophies.  For instance, implementing backup recovery and safe password policies is an example of baseline security. Adopting security tools, like web security firewalls and SSL encryption.

Research Your Tools

Popular website builders like WordPress are great, accessible foundations for website construction, especially if you’re a smaller enterprise with limited or no coding expertise. But, while WordPress (and similar website builders) offer robust customizations through plugins or paid add-ons, it’s these options that create potential risk to your website’s security. Not all options and plugins are built with security in mind. Just as well, any installed plugin requires updates and maintenance to achieve stable security.

Thus, when implementing addons or third-party customization options for your website, you must ensure the plugin (or similar) receives consistent updates, is rated well in security features, and limits data collection from your website.

Understand Threats

While not a direct upgrade to your current (or future) website security, having intimate knowledge of threat types facing your domain helps you prepare and prevent.

Some common threats and attack types directed toward websites are:

• Phishing and social engineering, prominent attacks used by malicious actors to impersonate trusted parties to gain credentials
• Ransomware is a form of malware infecting websites and systems, typically after a phishing breach
• SQL injection attacks look for vulnerabilities, especially unsecured add-ons, to exploit and gain access to the website
• DDoS attacks or “denial of service” attacks target and overwhelm website services with bloated traffic, rendering them unusable

While website security appears to be a daunting task, even simple security measures can ensure the safety of your data.

For more comprehensive help and additional website security solutions, reach out to Bytagig today for more information.

The post It’s Time to Strengthen Your Website Security appeared first on Bytagig.

Hackers are increasing their efforts to compromise systems and people’s security by using common website templates. Tricked users give away their credentials, typically to fake web-zones.

The cybersecurity report agency, Proofpoint, identified over 300 phishing campaigns utilizing these website templates as part of their hacking strategy. Researched templates appear as authentic as possible, designed to appear indistinguishable from the real thing. Therefore, the idea is to create a sense of emergency (as is common with phishing attacks) so the user gives up log in or other credentials. The malicious websites even maintain authentic-looking user interfaces, which can deceive those browsing the site if not careful.

Proofpoint clarifies that mimicked organizations include the World Health Organization, the IRS, Disease Control Centers, and the UK’s HMRC. These artificial websites are so common you have likely stumbled upon them by accident.

Proofpoint goes on to say the characteristics of these malicious websites typically include information regarding COVID-19. Some will claim to sell discounted health services/supplies. Others will claim you can order medicine or a “cure” for the Coronavirus. Various designs and additional details were included to make them appear as legitimate as possible – for instance, having multiple language options or additional pages users could access.

As experts have pointed out, these details mean threat-actors are paying close attention to what makes websites appear authentic and what behaviors to exploit. In other words, they’re looking at people’s activity in an attempt to repeat that behavior. Compromised information is the result.

What this means for remote workers and businesses

Because malicious actors are likely to continue their cyber attacks as long as COVID-19 remains a pandemic, remote workers and companies must take extra precautions. So, a company that utilizes remote workers should have multiple layers of security in place to prevent potential intrusions.

If remote workers are using personal devices, they can indirectly present a severe risk to a company network. For example, if that personal device is compromised because the individual unknowingly gave away credentials on a fake Coronavirus website, that can lead to intrusion of the businesses’ network.

Protecting your network and your information

So, while there’s nothing new about phishing scams, but modern techniques leave room for concern. In a time of serious uncertainty and fear, it’s easy to make mistakes and compromise one’s own digital safety. Fortunately, there are strategies one can use to check the legitimacy of a website, and Bytagig has a list of tips you can follow

Moreover, we also recommend using these rulesets for company security policies to reduce the risk of intrusion, especially if remote work solutions are used. This informs workers of what the risks are, how to avoid them, and what steps to take if they suspect a breach or other problems.

Recommended actions

Bytagig has a few recommended actions to take to prevent these intrusions from occurring:

• Enable TFA (two-factor authentication) on business devices, and require it if remote workers are using their own hardware for work
• Keep all devices up-to-date and require all workers to update all relevant devices, software, and apps
• Limit access to the business network for workers
• Keep staff informed of phishing scams and COVID-19 related scam attempts
• Advice caution and report any uncertainties to relevant IT security teams
• Don’t use personal devices for company work

Still experiencing troubles or want to take your security to the next level? Bytagig has solutions for you. Contact us today.

The post Website templates used in COVID-19 related cyberattacks appeared first on Bytagig.

In an effort to improve security for web users, Chrome is working on a future update for their software that will target and block “mixed content.” There will be several updates rolled out over several periods, all with the intent to block mixed content on an automated level. 

What kind of mixed content? Pages are approved by Chrome using HTTPS, a more secure, encrypted web format. However, content within an HTTPS page that is non-compliant will either be upgraded or blocked entirely. For some of the initial updates, it’s reported Chrome will allow manual unblocking of content if it breaks website performance. This is expected to go live in December 2019.

The changes

However, in January 2020, mixed audio and webpage content will either be upgraded to HTTPS formats or again, blocked by Chrome’s new automated filters. The goal is to encourage website administrators to secure their multimedia content for safer browsing. Websites not following the procedure will be marked as “unsafe” by search engines.

It’s important for web developers and businesses to get ahead of the game by preparing their web material for the changes. Currently, there are two methods to avoid issues with content warnings or similar with mixed media present:

• Use the upgrade-insecure-requests header code
• Use the block-all-mixed-content directive command

By February 2020, it’s expected all media (image) content will receive upgrades to HTTPS, while formats not complying with the change will be blocked. Your business should make sure its content will be ready for the change so as not to experience any major service disruption. 

The mixed content block is designed to further improve website and browsing security. Keep an eye for the changes and continuing updates to the Chrome platform to better prepare your business website.

If you’d like to learn more, you can contact us at Bytagig.

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