Web Security Basics: Protecting Your Site from Common Attacks

Websites are attacked constantly by automated bots looking for easy targets. You do not need to be a security expert to close the most common doors.

Keep everything updated

Outdated CMS versions, plugins and libraries are the leading cause of hacked sites. Enable automatic updates where safe and review the rest weekly.

Use strong authentication

• Enforce long, unique passwords and a password manager.
• Turn on two-factor authentication for admin accounts.
• Remove accounts of former staff and contractors immediately.

Protect against common attacks

• SQL injection: use parameterised queries or a trusted framework, never build queries from raw user input.
• Cross-site scripting (XSS): escape user-generated content before displaying it.
• CSRF: use tokens on forms that change data.
• Brute-force logins: limit login attempts and add rate limiting.

Secure the connection and the server

Serve every page over HTTPS, set security headers, hide error details from visitors and restrict file uploads to safe types.

Back up and monitor

Keep automated backups stored away from your server and test that you can restore them. Add uptime and malware monitoring so problems are noticed quickly.

Security is a habit, not a product. Regular updates and sensible access control prevent most incidents.