Ultimate Web Security Guide for Beginners

By TechFunnel Contributors - Last Updated on March 13, 2020
The quick introduction on web security

Understanding web security is very important if you want to protect your website, your data and the business in general. Once you understand the challenges that can arise in the Web Security(1) world, it will be a lot easier to protect yourself and prevent any possible problems.

There will always be challenges in the business world, and if you do it right, nothing will be impossible. With that in mind, here we will talk about Web Security and the benefits that it can bring to you, as well as all the possible challenges related to it and how you can make things better.

What is Web Security

The Web Security term means that you are protecting a website or a web application via detecting and identifying as well as preventing any cyber security threats that might arise. Web apps and websites are prone to security attacks, and that’s why you need to find a way to protect your website from any issues that can arise. By investing in free web security, you will find it easier to ensure that you’re getting improved help and assistance, and results can be great thanks to that.

Web security technologies you can start using today

One of the toughest challenges in the world of web security is that you are always facing new threats. Thankfully, protective technologies are always growing and evolving, and it’s important to find a way to grow and expand everything in a meaningful and rewarding manner. That’s where new web security technologies tend to come into play.

Some of the best web security technologies include:

  • user behavior analytics
  • hardware authentication
  • data loss prevention
  • penetration tests
  • deep learning
  • hardware locks

In addition, you can also rely on penetration tests. Running them often will help you find attack vectors. You can also identify where potential vulnerabilities come from, be it coding errors, bad patch management, outdated server models and many others. Understanding where all these problems come from and where issues can appear from is extremely important. Once you know that, nothing will stand in your way.

What is Web Server Security

As the name suggests, web security is focused on helping you protect all the information that you can normally access via a web server. Through web server security you can easily create a defense layer that helps you protect all server data without any worries. Since most servers contain important and sometimes even personal data, it’s crucial to invest in the best web security methods as otherwise, you can encounter challenges and other problems.

Importance of Web Security

Why do you need web security solutions? There are many reasons why you might want to invest in the best security systems for your website. First, hackers can arise out of anywhere and attack your website, so that’s certainly the type of thing that you really want to avoid. On top of that, data breaches are extremely challenging, and they can become a major problem. Hackers aren’t only attacking large companies and instead they focus on small companies too.

Businesses all over the US are dealing with reputation loss, in fact, 80% of those that were hacked were also removed from search engine results. So, this can be catastrophic for your business and you really must find a way to eliminate this issue properly. You don’t have to learn from mistakes this way, instead, you can have the best security system ready to go and suitable for any problem.

The Most Common Web Security Vulnerabilities

Since the web world is full of potential internet security issues and attacks, you might notice that problems and potential challenges can appear out of nowhere without issues.

  1. One of the most common web security issues is definitely the SQL injection, which allows the attacker to alter any of the backend SQL statements via manipulating user data.
  2. Another one of them comes in the form of cross-site scripting, which targets scripts found in a page that is executed on the client-side, these are altered to execute malicious scripts in the user’s browser. This is not connected in any way to the server.
  3. Then you have broken authentication and session management. In this case, the invalidated cookies that should normally be deleted automatically will still be on your system. That means hackers can still access all that content, something that can have massive repercussions, and you need to stay away from anything like that.
  4. Unvalidated Redirects and Forwards appear when they redirect people to other messages for a very specific purpose, which usually involves misleading and stealing data.
  5. Insufficient Transport Layer Protection is designed to use expired certificates or weak algorithms in order to eliminate any possible problems that might arise in a situation like this.
  6. Failure to restrict URL Access can bring the attacker access to unauthorized URLs even without logging into an app or website.
  7. Insecure Cryptographic Storage is a common issue, in this situation data is stored improperly and that leads to some major issues.
  8. Security Misconfigurations can allow the attacker to enumerate the app server version info as well as sensitive information that can help with attacks.
  9. Cross-Site Request Forgery is, as the name suggests, a forged request that comes from the cross-site. The attacker uses this to change the status, create a new user as an admin or modify user info.
  10. Insecure Direct Object References can lead to the attacker gaining access to unauthorized data that he can use and even compromise.

All these things can lead to bringing access to unwanted recipients, and that in the end can be catastrophic for your business.

Common Web Security Challenges

While Web Security Challenges are changing all the time, it’s important to note that every new year comes with unique differences. Some great examples are below:

  • The inclusion of AI and the Internet of Things bring in huge complexity in the security environment. There are many ways through which new breaches can take place, and that on its own can be extremely complicated from a business perspective.
  • Some of the other challenges faced right now is a constant focus on the underdevelopment of the employee education.
  • Cybercrime is becoming more and more rewarding for hackers due to attacks makes it easy to see why there’s a growing focus on hackers to attack companies.
  • The impact of blockchain technology. The blockchain needs to be adapted in order to offer better and more secure ways to deal with any possible problems that might arise in this type of situation in the business world.

Web Security Objectives

 The main objectives of web security are varied, and they usually differ based on the business. The main idea is to make it easier for customers to access the best approach and system.

In addition, these objectives need to be fully customized according to the customer requirements. And then there are also other objectives like availability, integrity and confidentiality. The idea is to keep all the information safe and ensure that you’re always going to obtain the best possible results on the market.

Web Security Best Practices

Investing in web security is the best way to protect your business and ensure that everything will be used properly and at the highest level. Thankfully there are ways to deal with web security issues, it all comes down to understanding which ones are better for you. Here are some of the best web security tips to focus on.

  • Change passwords and make them more complex

    This is a crucial aspect in the web security world. Attackers will always try to grab your passwords first and then gain unwanted access to your content online. The trick with all of this is to make sure that you are changing your passwords. Make them complex and ensure you are the only one who knows them. Once you do that, the chances of dealing with another attack will be heavily reduced, so try to keep that in mind.

  • Always monitor and test your website

    If there are any attacks or any pieces of malware on your website, you will usually notice them with some tests. That’s why you need to monitor your website often, as that’s how you can identify any possible problems that can arise.

  • Make sure that you protect the WP-Admin directory

    What you want to do here is protect the admin area by changing the admin password, encrypting it and enhancing the file permissions. That’s going to help you immensely and results will be staggering every time.

  • Disable things like directory browsing and indexing

    Hackers will get to see the website structure and that might make it easier for you to attack your website. It’s easier to avoid web security threats if you just disable indexing and browsing this way. It might sound tricky, but it’s actually a very good option and one that you will cherish quite a lot.

  • Update everything on your website

    That includes everything from plugins to themes and even the WordPress installation. There are times when hackers will prey on WordPress vulnerabilities or even theme vulnerabilities to access website data and even steal it. That’s why updating everything on your website is a very good idea, and you need to make the most of it as fast as possible.

  • Enabling 2 factor authentication

    Once you do that, you are adding a new protective layer to your website. You really need that especially if you’re using the internet often. Ideally, you want to make sure that you enable this as quickly as possible, otherwise, you can end up with all kinds of problems since hackers will be able to access your website a lot easier than you might imagine.

  • Create a website backup

    It’s not a web security idea, but it does help you prevent problems. If you have a backup for your website, you will have great peace of mind knowing that you didn’t lose any data. Lots of website owners lost their data after hacking attacks because they had no backup. Try to prevent that as much as possible.

The Benefits of Web Security

Is it a good idea for your business to invest in Web Security? Yes, because there are some amazing benefits to be had, and the results themselves can be nothing short of extraordinary. With that in mind, it’s all a matter of perspective and actively figuring out how every Web Security solution can help you right away.

  1. Web Security can help protect your computer and your website from viruses and attackers.
  2. On top of that, it also makes it easy to identify any malware and attack in general, then your website will be a lot more protected and without any issues.
  3. To make things even better, you will be able to inspect the malware code, see where it comes from and you can ban it from your website or computer. That helps you stay safe online while also avoiding many of the potential issues that can sometimes appear in a situation like this.
  4. With help from Web Security you can improve productivity within your business, prevent adware attacks while also denying spyware as well.
  5. You can inspire confidence in front of your customers, since they will rely on you a lot more this way.
  6. Assisting the IT expert is a lot easier, since you can prevent any major leaks and attacks in the long run this way, which is very important.
  7. You will be able to deny spyware and attacks where hackers try to take control over your system and data.
  8. Web security also helps you stay away from adware, ads and other unwanted clutter.
  9. Your team will be able to work safely online without having to worry about any issues or attackers to begin with.
  10. Personal information is easily saved, since hackers won’t be able to surpass all the security layers.

Frequently Asked Questions about Web Security

Q. Which protocol does HTTPS use to offer greater security in web transactions?

A. Web security is pivotal especially when financial transactions are involved. If you’re looking to activate such transactions for your website, it’s extremely important to understand what causes discrepancies and how you can manage them efficiently. With that in mind, it’s important to note that HTTPS uses the SSL protocol to provide better security during web transactions. SSL is relying on public-key cryptography, which is very efficient and focused on offering you the best way to handle and manage your business in a clever and professional manner.

Q. How does web 2.0 change security for the internet?

A. Web 2.0 is a social web, interactive and very dynamic. As a result, security needs to be offered depending on the actions that you need to take. Focusing a lot on personal data and its security is crucial, that’s why encrypting personal data and keeping it in secure databases is a crucial aspect to consider in a situation like this.

Aside from data, cloud services are used often, which means web security protocols need to be in place to create a backup and also encrypt all that cloud data to avoid any issues. A similar thing appears in the form of data transfers in the online world.

Q. How are web security threats evolving?

A. One of the challenges related to web security threats is that they are always evolving. And that’s why the web security world needs to evolve as well, to counteract all these problems in a proper and professional manner. There will always be challenges that can arise in a situation like this, and it’s all a matter of perspective.

Some of the continual web security threats we are dealing with include ransomware, active monitoring from hackers, social hacking, DDoS attacks, phishing attacks, form jacking, and many others. Every year new web security threats are appearing and unfortunately, they are damaging lots of computers until they are eventually dealt with and removed in a proper manner.

Conclusion

Some of the other things you can do are to install a web application firewall and also scan your website for malware. We also recommend you install an SSL certificate and also use a secure host, just to be safe. All these tips will help you avoid any possible web security attacks. Nothing is more important than keeping your website and its data safe, and with help from the right tools and features, you will be able to do that. Make sure that you follow these tips and guidelines, as they will help you stay safe in the online world and protect your website from attackers.

TechFunnel Contributors | TechFunnel.com is an ambitious publication dedicated to the evolving landscape of marketing and technology in business and in life. We are dedicated to sharing unbiased information, research, and expert commentary that helps executives and professionals stay on top of the rapidly evolving marketplace, leverage technology for productivity, and add value to their knowledge base.

TechFunnel Contributors | TechFunnel.com is an ambitious publication dedicated to the evolving landscape of marketing and technology in business and in life. We are dedicate...

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