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Hackers, Phishing scams, privacy violations, Cambridge Analytica – The cyberspace is just crawling with people trying to invade other people’s privacy. And it has become even more prevalent now more than ever.

 

According to an article by Globalsign, malicious applications and files are growing more over the years. “In 2013, there were 500,000 malicious applications. In 2015, that number increased to 2.5 million. Now in 2017, it sits at 3.5 million,” says the report.

 

For businesses who have an online presence, especially in social media, there is a huge risk of your security being breached and vital information being taken hostage by hackers. Below we tackle how you could protect your business from cyber-attacks that could put your brand and customers in danger.

 

Recognize The Possible Threats

When it comes to cyberspace, there are a lot of different threats and they all come in different forms.

 

Some of the most popular cyber threats are viruses, Trojan horses, and worms. Viruses come in the form of unverified files and latch on to other files on your computer where they will slowly damage your systems. While Trojan horses are files that look like a good file but actually contain malicious content that damage your computer.

 

 

Recognizing the different forms cyber threats come will help you prevent falling for traps found in the cyberspace, thus protecting your brand from harm.

 

Keep Your Software Updated

Making sure your computer’s software is up-to-date will ensure that you’re running on the latest security patch available. Some malicious applications use obsolete security patches as a way of entering your computer from the internet, causing damage to your website and possibly stealing your customer’s vital information.

 

 

Third-party CMS platforms like wordpress always try to provide subscribers with update patches to keep their software and plugins up-to-date to keep hackers from entering your site. While having a strong anti-virus software can help detect advance virus signatures before they can infect your computer.

 

Use HTTPS Protocol

Using a Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) instead of a common HTTP one will help keep your communications secure, protecting any sensitive information that’s being transmitted between your website and web server.

 

 

HTTPS helps by adding an extra encryption layer of Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) to your HTTP to make it harder for hackers to breach your communication lines. HTTPS is essential for websites that have online transactions and websites that handle sensitive customer information. HTTPS is also a ranking factor for Google, so running on HTTPS will help improve your search ranking as well.

 

Place Protective Measures Against XSS Attacks

Cross-site scripting or XSS is the attempt to inject malicious codes into your website from your customer’s system. If an XSS attack is successful, you could see crashed webpages or content changes that you did not make. It could also steal information that is sent back to the attackers that they can use against you. Ransomware attacks can be done by means of XSS, so keeping protected against XSS attack will save you from any unexpected attack that could damage your brand’s reputation and your customer’s information.

 

 

Protect your website from XXS attack by ensuring other users can’t inject codes into your pages. This means limiting user-generated content on your webpages, using filtering and censoring programs that will prevent users from using certain characters and being vigilant about what can be posted on your webpages.

 

Secure Your Passwords

This is one of the most basic advice many cybersecurity experts tell people when they want to prevent being hacked or exploited online, but it is also one of the most easily forgotten methods of cybersecurity.

 

 

Sending passwords through email, using one password across all your emails, and using short and predictable passwords are just some red flags when trying to keep your passwords secure, especially on social media. If you’re using these methods, it would be best to avoid them now before you risk your website and social media accounts to hackers and scammers.

In the age where everything is digital, security and privacy are a top priority for many, including businesses. It’s important to make sure you and your business are secure and away from the prying eyes of hackers and phishers on the web.

 

If you value your security but don’t know how to constantly keep your website and social media accounts secure, it would be best to hire a team of SEO specialists that have knowledge of online security to help you out.

 

After all, it’s your business on the line.

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