Website security is a primary concern of website owners across the world. It does not matter which framework you are using, you should still maintain the web application and server to prevent intrusions. Hackers can attack your website to get access to sensitive data and use the server for sending abused mails and hosting malicious files.

To prevent security attacks, you can follow the suggestions mentioned below.

Keep the Software and Frameworks updated:

All software development companies fix security bugs in updated versions of their products. You can keep hackers away from the website by updating the framework and software you used during web development. In this way, you can make your website more secure from attacks. Generally, hackers use security holes in a website to perform malicious activities. If they cannot find any vulnerability, they start finding another website that has security holes.

Use strong and impossible-to-guess passwords:

It is always recommended to use strong passwords for FTP accounts, cPanel, and email accounts to prevent security breaches. You should use small letters, capital letters, special characters and numbers in your password to make it impossible to guess.

Always filter HTML and JavaScript:

The Cross Site Scripting (XSS) is the most common method used for intrusion. Intruders can insert a scripting code in web forms or use JavaScript to run malicious code. To ensure security, you should check the data being submitted and remove the unnecessary HTML tags.

Display error messages carefully:

When users insert incorrect login details, a simple error message must be displayed on your website. However, you should be careful about what you will write in this message. Hackers use brute force attack method to find username and password. If you display messages such as “username is incorrect” and “password is incorrect”, hackers will know that their job is half done and can focus on another field. To put a stop to this, you should use a common slogan such as “either username or password is incorrect”. Captcha can also be used on a login page to give extra security.

Use both server-side and client-side validation:

To prevent any malicious data from being inserted, you should use both client-side and server-side validation. On the client side, JavaScript can be used for validation, but most browsers offer an option to disable it. Therefore, you should also validate the data on the server to prevent undesirable results in your website.

Scan the uploaded files:

If you offer the file upload facility to allow users to upload their images, you should be careful about what they upload. Hackers can also upload infected files to your server to run malicious code. You cannot rely on the file type to prevent attacks. To protect your website, you should check the file extension and change file permissions. For example, if you set chmod 0666, these files will not get executed. You can also store them on the different server by using Secure File Transport Protocol or Secure Shell Protocol for secure file transport.

Well, these are some security approaches you can follow for ensuring website security. In this way, you can keep your website safe from attacks and users can use it without any fear.

Source by Abhishek Mangal