How to test your website security

It's one thing to launch your company's website, but it's quite another to keep it secure 24 hours a day, seven days a week. With the PoPI act now in effect and cyberattacks on the rise, now is not the time to leave your proverbial front door open. E-commerce websites are especially vulnerable during the holiday season, or any busy season for that matter.

Just because you have a secure payment gateway does not ensure that your client data is always secure. There is more than one approach to protect sensitive information and your clients' access to your website. This article discusses how to test and safeguard your cybersecurity, including the use of an SSL certificate, malware eradication, and other methods.

Everyone's website security requirements are different, but here are some must-do reminders on how to assess website security.

1. Verify the strength of all your passwords.

Using strong passwords is a simple technique to prevent brute force assaults, which are a persistent problem. According to Fortinet, a brute force assault is "a hacking strategy that uses trial and error to crack passwords, login credentials, and encryption keys." It is a simple yet dependable method for getting unauthorized access to individual accounts as well as systems and networks of businesses."

Hackers essentially utilize software to try to guess your password, and if yours is far too basic or you use the default password provided to you, you're opening yourself up to a cyberattack now and in the future. Make sure all of your passwords contain letters, numbers, and symbols. Even capital letters might help you generate a more professional appearance.

1. Employ a white-hat website hacker.

You'll never know how secure your website is unless you inspect it for flaws. If you really want to see where all the potential vulnerabilities are, you can employ a hacker who specializes in finding potential security weaknesses for website security tests.
They'll run configuration testing, which compares a system's performance to various combinations of software and hardware to determine the ideal configuration in which the system can work without problems.

3. Is your SSL certificate applied site-wide?
An SSL certificate is required to encrypt data sent between your website and your clients. Encryption ensures that data cannot be deciphered even if it is intercepted. A little padlock in the far left corner of the address indicates the presence of an SSL certificate. It serves as a visual indicator to both consumers and Google that a website is safe and secure.
However, in order for your SSL certificate to perform optimally for your website, it must be applied site-wide rather than only on specific pages. You don't want your clients' information to be encrypted on some sites but not others. Examine your existing SSL certificate package to check that it is installed on all of your pages. Keep track of its expiration date as well.

1. Do you do malware scans on a daily basis?

If you utilize a malware cleanup solution, it is critical that you run regular scans to ensure that no infection goes undetected. Malware is defined as any software that infiltrates a platform with the goal of stealing sensitive user information and wreaking havoc on a website and its clients.
Examine your malware removal program (if you have one) and ensure that it includes the following basic functions to keep your website under constant surveillance:

• Malware avoidance
• Malware identification
• Malware elimination
• Firewall for web applications
• Scans every day or every hour
• Investigation and analysis of threats

Performing these checks on a regular basis, whether monthly or quarterly, will ensure that your website is as secure as it can be during business-critical peak seasons.