Why Hosting Security Matters

Why Hosting Security Matters

Website security is one of the main reasons to choose a solid host. Hacking and data theft can easily occur when your website is being hosted in a bad online neighborhood, and without robust security measures in place your website is vulnerable to attack from all sides.

Even those with massive security resources can fall victim to web crime. Multi-nationals, banks and even governments have been temporarily brought to a halt through hacking and loopholes in software code. Most recently, web hosting giant Hostgator was hacked by a former employee who managed to gain control over 25% of all the websites hosted on its servers.

While the alleged perpetrator Eric Grisse awaits his judicial fate, the whole issue has brought hosting security back to the forefront. With Hostgator’s safety measures breached so extensively, the challenge for hosting providers and website owners alike is to find ways of tightening security to protect their website and their data.

Security is a problem for websites of all sizes. Naturally, larger sites tend to be more lucrative targets for those with fraudulent and criminal intent, but no website is immune from the disruptive potential of hacking. Keeping a secure password is step one, but the process is so much more in-depth than that. Ultimately it is the quality and extent of measures on the host’s side that determines how vulnerable your site will be.

According to Naked Security, website owners should be more discerning in their hosting options to take account of the importance of tight host security in protecting their data.

“Most hosting companies try to prevent you from making egregious mistakes, but if you choose to give edit rights to your web pages to a careless contractor, say, that’s your lookout. At the same time, you put a lot of trust in the security competence of your hosting provider. After all, if your provider configures its network badly, then other customers might wrongly be able to mess with your servers, even though you set up your parts of the system correctly.”

Many smaller hosts are based on reseller packages. AYK’s reseller hosting plans, for example, give customers the ability to resell hosting space, under the security banner of AYK. But not all smaller hosts are as fortunate, and website owners need to be aware of the extent of protective measures in place before committing to any one web host.

Choosing the wrong web host can be an expensive choice. The costs of putting things right following on from an online attack can run into the thousands. If a website goes down as a result of a malicious attack, the potential for lost sales can make this feel even more acute. Yet still, too many website owners make decisions based on short-term cost, opting for much cheaper (and often much less secure) hosting packages.

Website security is too important to leave it up to chance, and too much of the burden rests with the host for it to be a research-free process. Choosing a reputable source doesn’t guarantee immunity, but it does make it considerably less likely you will fall victim to a hack.

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Filed in: security • Technology Tags: host security