Cloud hosting has improvised the way websites function, offering speed, scalability, and cost efficiency. However, these benefits come with security risks. A poorly configured security measures cloud-hosted website can easily become a target for attackers, resulting in data breaches, malware infections, and even takeovers of the website.
As a business or website owner, learning about cloud security is quite necessary. In the following article, the most common security risks and best practices on how to keep your website safe are covered.
What is Cloud Web Hosting?
A Cloud web hosting is a type of web hosting where your website’s content is stored on more than one servers placed across the globe instead of a single one. This makes your website to load faster, become more reliable, and able to handle more traffic avoiding down-times. If one of the servers goes down, another one takes over in a very short interval of time, keeping your website online. It’s flexible, secure, and a great choice for businesses and growing websites if you want a more reliable solution for your website.
Data breaches can expose confidential information, causing identity theft or financial loss. DDoS attacks can flood your website with fake traffic, making it crash and become unavailable. Malware infections can allow attackers to steal customer data or redirect visitors to malicious websites. Weak authentication or poorly configured servers can give unauthorized users access to your site, leading to complete or partial control loss.
If you don’t take security seriously, your website could become a victim of cyberattack.
Why is Cloud Security Important?
When you host a website in the cloud, your website data is not stored on just one server, but, it is spread across multiple and different servers, making it faster and more scalable. However, this also introduces security concerns. Attackers target websites hosted on cloud to steal sensitive data, spread malware, or conduct cyber attacks.
Best Practices for Cloud Website Security
Imagine leaving the lid of a large toy box in your room open rather than locking it. Your toys can now be taken by anyone without your permission. That is what occurred in some of the most significant breaches in cloud security.
A hacker discovered a tiny opening in Capital One’s security “lid” in 2019. Over 100 million people’s names, addresses, and even bank account information were stolen when they broke in. Facebook then experienced a similar issue in 2021. Their massive “online notebook” containing user emails and phone numbers was left open, and all of a sudden, the data of 530 million people was accessible online.
These incidents highlight the critical nature of cloud security. Businesses must appropriately secure their data with strong passwords, encryption, and frequent security audits, much like you would when you lock your toy box.
Choose a Web Hosting Provider with Robust Security Features
Selecting the best web hosting company is the first step in creating a strong security strategy. Seek out servers that have SSL encryption, automatic backups, DDoS protection, and firewalls built right in. Attacks are thwarted before they may reach your website thanks to these capabilities.
Secure Your Login and User Access
Weak passwords or credentials that have been stolen are the main causes of website getting hacked. By adding an additional layer of protection, two-factor authentication (2FA) or multi-factor authentication (MFA) makes it more difficult for hackers to get in. Risk is also decreased by using strong, difficult to forge or guess passwords and restricting user access, for example, using .htaccess file to just those who can be trusted.
An important tip for securing cloud web hosting is to limit access with the principle of least privilege.
The principle of least privilege means giving people or programs only the minimum access they need to do their job. In cloud environment, users and applications should only have access to the files and settings they require to function, thereby minimizing the chances of unintentional harm or data loss.
Keep Your Site Software Updated
Outdated software is one of the most common causes of security breaches. In order to gain access, hackers frequently exploit vulnerabilities in outdated CMS (Like WordPress, Magento, etc.) versions, plugins, and themes. Regular updates assist in patching security flaws before it can cause harm. Enable automatic updates if you can, or pick a hosting company that takes care of updates for you.
Tip: A managed hosting company can take care of software upgrades for you, saving you time and effort while maintaining the security of your website.
Use Web Application Firewall
A Web Application Firewall (WAF) is like a barrier or a wall, which stops harmful traffic before it even gets to your website. You can customize the incoming traffic rules according to your needs and apply restrictions based on IP, IP-range or location. WAFs are provided by many hosting companies and security companies like Sucuri or Wordfence, but for extra layer of protection, you may also use third-party services like Cloudflare.
Monitor your website and scan it regularly
Regular malware scans help detect and remove infections before they cause harm. Server logs can help in identifying suspicious behavior, and a variety of security plugins, such as Wordfence, offer monitoring and scanning, both automated and manual. If your hosting provider includes any built-in malware scanning tool, then it’s an advantage but make sure it’s enabled.
Conclusion
Cloud security is like locking up a shop at night. If you don’t lock it properly, anyone can walk in and take what they want. The internet works the same way, without the right protection, hackers can break into websites, steal data, and cause harm.
Selecting a secure web hosting provider is like picking a safe neighborhood for your shop. Good hosting services offer strong security features like firewalls, regular updates, and malware protection. But just like locking your doors isn’t enough to stop every thief, website owners also need to take extra steps like using strong passwords, enabling two-factor authentication, and keeping software updated. With the right hosting and best practices, you can keep your website safe.
For more security updates, stay tuned to Malvirus.
