Five Habits That Keep Your Website Secure

Website security sounds technical, but most of the risk comes down to a few everyday habits.

1. Keep software updated

If you use WordPress or another CMS, update the core, themes and plugins regularly. Most attacks use known flaws that updates have already fixed. Remove plugins and themes you no longer use.

2. Use strong, unique passwords

Use a different long password for your hosting account, your CMS admin and your email. A password manager makes this easy. Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it is offered.

3. Back up regularly

A backup is what turns a disaster into an inconvenience. Keep copies of your files and database somewhere other than your hosting account, and test that you can restore them.

4. Use HTTPS everywhere

An SSL certificate encrypts traffic between your visitors and your site, and browsers warn users when it is missing. Make sure every page redirects to the secure version.

5. Limit who has access

Give people only the access they need, and remove accounts when someone leaves a project. Review your admin and FTP users from time to time.

No site is ever perfectly safe, but these habits stop the large majority of problems before they start.