The digital age we are living in has caused a lot of crime to emerge in the internet space and one of such crimeis known as “hacking’which entails a domain being hijackedby cyber criminals.
The emergence of thie cyber threats has therefore drummed the need for web designers and websitowners to find ways of maintaining the safety of their onoine presence as well as protect their brand’s reputation.
Because if you give way for cyber criminals to hijack your website, they might use the sensitive informations you have threin to defraud your potential and even existing customers and users.
Thereare various kinds of cyber threats you must look out for and some of them includes: domain hijacking, phishing attacks, malware infections, DNS spoofing etc.
But before we delve into explaining the above types of cyber threats, let us first and foremost explore the 10 actionable ways you can protect your domain from cyber threats.
10 actionable ways to protect your domain from cyber threats.
Below are the 10 actionable ways to protect your domain from cyber threats:
- Choose a reliable web hosting provider.
- Use strong passwords.
- Enable two-factor authentication.
- Monitor your domain DNS records.
- Apply web application firewall.
- Update your websites themes and plugins.
- Always back-up your website.
- Use a domain monitoring service.
- Use HTTPS.
- Educate yourself often.
1. Choose a reliable web hosting provider.
The very first actionable step to protect your domain from cyber threats is to choose a reliable web hosting provider because it is your web hosting provider that will provide all the features you need to add layers of security to your domain.
Some of the features you need to look out for when looking for a web hosting provider are:
- Domain locking.
- Malware protection.
- 247 support etc.
Getting the right web hosting provider will help to keep cyber criminals away from your domain.
2. Use strong passwords.
Using strong password is another actionable way to protect your domain from cyber threats because one of the things cyber criminals will do is to hack your password which will help them gain access to your dashboard.
Some people make the mistake of using information they already have in the open to create their passwords, one of such example could be spelling your domain name backwards.
To however create strong password for your domain, ensure you mix up numbers, letters and symbols because if the hackers are using a software or app to digout your password, this method always makes it impossible for them to spellout the passwords.
3. Enable two-factor authentication.
Enabling a two-factor authentication is another way to help you add an extra layerof security to your domain and prevent it from cyber threats.
This method always involves receiving a particular code that you will insert to enable you gain access to your domain. This codes are usually received through various sources like emails, phones, WhatsApp etc.
Thus, because cyber criminals will not have access to these sources, they will not be able to get the code toaccess your domain.
4. Monitor your domain DNS records.
Any suspicious changes or unauthorized add-ons are going to be visible or found inyour domain DNS records.
And for that reason, you must always monitor it and immediately delete any if found if you do not want cyber criminals to attack your website.
5. Apply web application firewall.
The purpose of a web application firewall is to monitor,filter and prevent any suspicious traffic from coming to your domain.
So if you want to protect your domain from cyber threats, ensureyou enable a web application firewall on it.
6. Update your website themes and plugins.
Anytime I log into my domain dashboards, the first thing I do is to check and update all the themes and plugins before I start writing articles or doing any management on the website backend.
Andthe reason I do this is prevent any exploitation of a known vulnerabiliity that might be detrimental to my domain. Andof course, these vulnerabilities are the act of domain hackers.
I hope you will also practice this act anytime you are accessing your website dashboard.
7. Always back-up your website.
Any act you must also practice as a means of protecting your domain from cyber attacks is to back-up your website as often as possible.
Remember, how hard and long it usually takes to crack your brain and write an article or upload other stuffs, and considering how painful it will be to loose them all in one strife.
Now ehen you back-up your website, you can always make a one-click reinstallation in the case where something happens to your domain.
8. Use a domain monitor service.
Oneofthe advantage of using a domain monitoring service to protect your domain from cyber threats is that you are going to receive notifications of threats either in your emails, text messages or any other sources.
And this in the end will allow you time to focus on other activities without worrying about what is hapoening to your domain when you are not checking up on it.
You can check out some of the domain monitoring services that are available here.
9. Use HTTPS.
HTTPS is a prefix for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure, andit is oneof the added layer of security provided by web hosting services to encrypt data which are transmitted between your website and your visitors browser and in so doing protect every sensitive information that is created in the process.
So always ensure you have it enabled on your domain at every given point in time.
10. Educate yourself often.
In a changing world where new ideas and methods are bith everyday, it is very important to educate yourself often in order to stay up-to-date with new trends that will alert you of how cyber criminals are re-strategizing and what new method is invented to obstruct them.
Conclusion.
The ability to protect your domain from cyber threats will depend on how you are able to use actionable approaches that you have learnt in this article which consists in combining technical measures coupled with consistent monitoring and education.
By following the 10 strategies we have taken time to mention and explain to the best of your understanding above, it willbe easy for you to significantly reduce the risk of allowing your domain to be compromised by cyber criminals and in so doing maintain your visitor’s trust and loyalty.
Good luck!