7 useful tools to keep your website secure

Before you read about keeping your website secure, I would like to express my gratitude towards ZK for creating WebTrafficROI, which is simply one of the best and most well-designed websites I have come across when it comes to blogging and internet marketing. I was hooked on some of the earlier posts and recently was intrigued by this article on the habits of exceptional people.

You’ve set up your website. You have created the first set of content to launch it with, have found a great design and host that will be stable and support you as you build your readership, and have a plethora of wonderful ideas for the future. Perhaps instead you have an established website and want to make sure that it is even better.

The next thing you should consider is how to protect your website and keep it out of the hands of hackers. They might want to incorporate it into their botnet or steal your subscriber lists for spamming purposes. Such an attack will either cripple or ruin our website, and the loss of reputation is irrecoverable.

Here are seven tools that you can use to help keep your website secure:

WordPress
You need to keep track of your website at all times, and if your website is hosted with WordPress the WordPress mobile app allows you to do that, as well as make any quick changes needed.

Even if you don’t use WordPress, you should have the application in order to stay up to date on trends and interests.

Not only does the app give you the ability to edit posts that may unintentionally divulge personal information, you can also edit and moderate and comments that may pose a risk to your website. Such problems need to be dealt with swiftly, and you can tell the app to notify you about any posted comments so that you are always in control.

WP Security Scan
While technically a WordPress plugin, you will find the functionality of this program to be equally as useful on your smartphone when you install it on your website. WP Security Scan, once installed, will do a scan of your website and then suggest any changes that should be made, closing any security holes or breaches that could mean the loss of sensitive data or your website.

You can find it in the WordPress Plugins directory, and it is free of charge. It is a great choice for bloggers who are just starting or who aren’t certain how to protect their website.

Avast Mobile Security
With everything on the internet being interconnected, it is important that you protect your smartphone as much as you would your blog. If a hacker or thief gets ahold of your phone, then they can likely automatically log into your website. If a piece of malware infects your computer, then your data is at risk of being destroyed or transferred, depending on the malware in question.

While you’ve always needed a security program for your laptop or desktop, it is only a recent development that you need a mobile security program as well, and this is where Avast Mobile Security comes in. It provides some of the best scanning and program removal on the market, and there are some remote options that any user will find helpful.

It is free; although for some of the more serious options such as app locking and remote data recovery, you have to pay for premium service.

Qihoo 360 Security
Similar to Avast Mobile Security in that it is a general security app for your smartphone, Qihoo 360 security is also free of any charge. While it claims to perform many of the same functions as other security applications, it also claims to boost your power conservation and smartphone speed. As for security, it has good scanning features and can automatically scan incoming apps and files for you so you know nothing will threaten your phone (and therefore your website).

You can find it as a free app for Android, and it is a great app to try out first to see if it fits your needs before upgrading to something pricier.

A Virtual Private Network
If you use public networks with any frequency without some form of protection, then you are not only putting your website at risk but every other account you own. The reason for this is that even the most inexperienced of hackers can intercept your data over an unprotected network, listening in as if you were sending out radio signals. With this method, they can steal your website username and password, in addition to just about anything else you send or receive on the network.

This is why you need a Virtual Private Network (VPN), which is a service that will connect your smartphone (or computer) to an offsite private server using an encrypted connection that will keep hackers out. It will also mask your IP address due to having the server handle your requests for you, meaning that you will have a high level of privacy on your smartphone, so you don’t have to worry about related threats.

Lookout
Lookout is an app that you absolutely need if you work a lot on your website from your phone. If someone grabs a lost phone or steals it from you, they can do a massive amount of damage. This means that in addition to putting up security measures such as creating a good PIN to stall for time, you need to be able to get your phone back, which is what Lookout is for.

In addition to some other features, it will allow you to call your phone from a browser, track where it was last, and backup any contacts, so you can remotely shut down your smartphone without worry. A premium option allows you to backup photos, get potential theft alerts, and manage multiple devices. You can find Lookout for both iPhone and Android.

WordFence
Another plugin for WordPress that may help you when you’re not on your computer, WordFence is the most popular WordPress security program in use. It will block attackers, scan your website for any flaws, improve your login security, and speed up your website in the process. It is one of the best overall applications to use on your WordPress website to know if it has any flaws and for constant surveillance of your website.

You can find it on the WordPress plugins page, and while it is free, you can also get a premium subscription that will do more to protect your website should it be WordPress based.

Any of these seven applications or programs will help keep your website safer. I hope that you take these into consideration and that you never have to worry about the potential problems of a cyberattack in the near or distant future. Thank you for reading.

This blog post is written by Kim who blogs at securethoughts.com. Want to guest post on this blog, contact us