Website Security and Network Security
Why is website security and network security so important? I’m sure, like me, you hate having to continually change your password, add in capital letters, numbers and characters. Is it really worth the hassle? Today I thought I’d share some of the things that we try to protect against in the website, network and security world.
What is a Botnet?
The “Bot” comes from robot and “Net” from network – “Botnet. Cybercriminals use special Trojan viruses / Malware to breach the security of users’ computers, take control of each computer, and organize all of the infected machines into a network of ‘bots’ that the criminal can remotely manage. These are often referred to as “zombie computers” or “zombie army”. Botnet owners or “herders” or “zombie masters” can issue commands to perform malicious activities which involve repetitive tasks and objectives. These include distributed denial-of-service (DDOS) attacks, the sending of spam mail, and information theft. It’s common to have over 20,000 machines in a single botnet but there are some botnets that have been estimated to contain millions of machines.
What is a DDOS attack?
A Distributed Denial of Service attack attempts to take down a service/server by flooding the bandwidth or resources of a targeted system. When the server is overloaded with multiple connections, new connections can no longer be accepted.
What is a Brute Force attack?
Unlike hacks that focus on vulnerabilities in software, a Brute Force Attack aims at being the simplest kind of method to gain access to a site: it tries usernames and passwords, over and over again, until it gets in. As mentioned above, these can come from multiple IP addresses and locations at the same time, so conventional IP-based lockouts are not effective
WordPress Security
Has your wordpress site been hacked? Is google blocking your website due to malware and spyware being found on your website? You’ll need to increase both your Website Security and Network Security.
Brute force attacks are a growing concern for many website administrators. I was very pleased to see that Jetpack for WordPress now comes fully integrated BruteProtect. (Jetpack 3.4) It’s a plug in that I’ve been using for a year or so which helps you take control of site security and protect your site from this common attack vector.
The top issues with WordPress security include:
- vulnerabilities in themes and plugins
- unsecured admin accounts
- old WordPress versions
- weak user passwords
- lack of security featrures like 2FA, WAF & virus scanning
- No backups which will allow fast recovery and restoration.
Don’t let your, or your customers, valuable information be stolen!
Other Threats
We also need to remember that threats to security and data also come from other sources. BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) items like phones and laptops that connect to work networks can increase risk. Theft, fire, water & hard drive failure are 4 pretty major threats that people tend to forget about as well. Regular backups, including offsite backups, will help save your precious data.
Whether you are a home user or large business network, Bridge IT can give you a network security audit and implement internet security strategies. Call us for more details.
Secure your home network, business network & website NOW!
WordPress Security – Monthly, Pre & Post Attack Packages
Immediate support, repair and scanning by our website security technician
- We will spend the next hour locking down, hardening security, removing any malware, spyware & viruses implanted by hackers.
- Implement security: update WordPress core, update themes, update plug ins, install software to logs and bans hackers IP addresses, scan entire site for malware/spyware/viruses/vulnerabilities, update passwords, suggest 2nd opinion scans of all computers that access the site (in case the computer is compromised)
- Finally, we will restore your website from any backups that you have made and send you a full report of the process.