Knowing if Your Site’s Security is on Top of Your Web Host’s Mind

Web hosting security

Web hosts are not created equal. There are web hosts at a $1 per year cost and there are some hosting that cost you $1000 a year. There are those who will sell at a premium rate but deliver below expectations and those who offer cheap web hosting that delivers premium features. Well, that depends upon the company that you choose. If the company is new, then the brand value will not be higher and so the hosting price accordingly. Your being here means you’re taking your site’s security seriously.

The security features of your web hosting service are more than any of the steps you can take yourself to secure your website. Sadly, not all web hosts follow web hosting security’s best practices, and free web hosts are sometimes used by hackers to distribute malware or steal sensitive data.

Let’s discuss the most crucial security features that a great host should provide its customers. If you’re looking for a new web host or want to change your existing host for one that provides better security, check these features.

Shared vs. Dedicated Hosting

For hosting security, experts can tell you that “dedicated” hosting, wherein you get full control over your server and your website is the best-secured option when compared to others like “shared” hosting, wherein you share a server with other customers.

This can be argued – if you are an experienced network engineer, managing your server can provide more control and heightened security. On the other hand, a shared provider can mean that a huge deal of security is handled by your web host, which in most cases will be handled by a dedicated security team.

The third way combines the advantages of both shared and dedicated approaches. Virtual private servers or VPS hosts use shared hosting with the majority of VPS providers using a virtual machine on their servers, with each server being an independent unit under the full control of its user/customer. This approach provides good control over servers without sacrificing the expertise that shared hosting providers offer, making it a favorite for small websites.

Site monitoring

A good web hosting provider will check your internal network for any intrusions or suspicious activities. They will alert you to any unusual activity or traffic on your server, and also be honest about any security breaches.

Regardless, protecting your website shouldn’t be 100% on the host’s side, your company or IT team also needs to build and update your site with security in mind. You should regularly check for broken links and dead pages, unused themes or plugins, and also unusual traffic levels.

Site backups and restore

Backups are a key element for site security. Being able to fully back up your site is a very important feature of good web hosts since many forms of cyberattack involve a hacker taking your site offline and then ransoming it back. Most cybercriminals are targeting the actual backup software with ransomware and try to modify the backup file itself.

Having a clean site backup can ease this issue. Pay careful attention to a host’s backup policies before signing up with them and ensure that they back up frequently and that you can access the backups.

Other basic security features to look for:

  • Firewalls and DDoS protection
  • Antivirus and Malware Protection
  • DNS Redirects

A good company whether it sells premium or cheap web hosting should be able to provide the features above and even throw in more. All great web hosting providers see themselves as a business partner rather than just company services.

Therefore, when choosing a web host, you should be comfortable not just with the features and cost, but with the support and security measures they provide. Website security needs constant development and watch, but if you choose the right web host, you’ll have a smooth-sailing website that achieves your goal and savings on the total cost of hosting.

This post was last modified on October 22, 2022 2:15 PM

Yogesh Patel: Yogesh Khetani is a famous Tech Blogger who loves to be surrounded by tech gadgets. So obviously, we can see his contribution here in that field. He also contributes to Now I am Updated website.