Web Hosting Security

With more and more websites allowing visitors to input their personal details to some extent, it is important for web hosting companies to be able to adapt their web hosting policies to ensure that their servers and customers are protected against any new security threats that arise. There are many different factors that can affect how secure a web hosting service and it is the job of web hosting companies to analyze their infrastructures to identify any holes that could be potential security risks. If you are a shared hosting customer then you have to rely on your web hosting provider to offer you a good level of security and for this to work a certain level of trust between the two parties is required; as for VPS server hosting and dedicated server hosting customers, you are responsible for the security of your own web hosting environment because you have a dedicated hosting environment meaning that you need to be well versed in server management to be able to secure your server to a level that will prevent hackers from being able to hack it and cause any damage. In order for visitors to enter their person details into your website, it is up to you to take the measures to guarantee trust between you and them as this is the only way that you are going to get people enter their details into your website.

Server-Level Security

The most basic form of web hosting security takes place at the server level because this is where all of the software that is going to be required to prevent the most serious attacks such as DDOS attacks and hackers trying to gain access through compromised scripts will be hosted. There are many different applications and firewalls available that will prevent hackers from gaining access to your server using open ports and applications that have holes that could be easily compromised; one of the most popular is CSF (ConfigServer Firewall) which is a Linux application capable of protecting any Linux server to a high level, whilst those using Windows servers will be able to make the most of the server protection that is available by using the Windows Firewall that comes with the Windows operating system by default. As a shared hosting customer this should be taken care of by any good web hosting provider, but as a dedicated web hosting customer you will be expected to be able to secure your own server.

Website and Coding Security

As a web developer it is your responsibility to make sure that all applications that you develop are done so to a high standard to prevent hackers from being able to hijack a web hosting account or a web hosting server through a hole that has been left in your web application due to poor coding. SQL injections are one of the most popular forms of website hacking and although they may not necessarily put the hosting server at risk, they can be used to hack the actual website and to access the data that is stored in your backend database. If you are storing the personal details of your visitors or customers then hackers could have a field day because certain personal information such as credit card details have value meaning that they can be sold on, thus allowing hackers to profit from their work. When developing web applications using PHP or ASP.NET, or any language for that matter, it is important to ensure that you use all of the latest functions available to handle the data that is entered into your website to guarantee that it can’t be compromised in any way at the frontend. SSL certificates can also be used to encrypt any information that is sent between your hosting server from your website and your visitor’s computers; many web browsers prominently display the fact that a website has an SSL certificate and they are increasingly becoming a source of trust for visitors because they know that their data is going to be handled and processed safely.

Looking After Your Personal Information

Although web hosting companies will have to keep your personal information private because of the Data Protection Act and the fact that you don’t want unauthorized individuals having access to your confidential details, if you are to register a domain name then you could risk having your personal details such as your name and address put into the public domain. All domain network controllers, known as NICs (Network Information Centres), run their own public WHOIS databases that host the personal details of the owners of individual domain names under the specific TLD (Top Level Domain); for example, Nominet (nic.uk) is the NIC for all domains that fall under the “.uk” TLD. With most NICs you are required to have your details posted publicly regardless of what your legal standing is, although some will allow you to hide your personal details if you are in fact a private individual who has registered the domain solely for your own use. Some domain name registrars and web hosting companies can provide you with a premium service that will allow you to hide your personal data from being displayed on any WHOIS database and instead will display their own private details; although you usually have to pay extra for domain privacy, for some people it can be worth it for the peace of mind that it can provide.

In conclusion, the security of web hosting packages as well as your own personal information are two key considerations to remember when choosing a web hosting provider, but more importantly the form of web hosting that you are going to be using to meet your web hosting requirements. In this day and age there are many precautions that can be taken to minimize any damage that could be done if a hacker does manage to gain entry to a server that hasn’t been secured properly, but the threats available are changing daily and are adapting to fight the new technologies that are being developed to stop them.

Thanks & Regards,

"Remember Me When You Raise Your Hand For Dua"
Raheel Ahmed Khan
System Engineer
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