What Web Designers Need to Know About Cyber Security

When creating a website from scratch, there’s always a lot of things to keep in mind. A lot of work goes into designing a website. However, a lot more work has to go into securing it.

Cybercrime is on the rise, yet 7 out of 10 organizations fail the cyber readiness test. To improve the overall cybersecurity, each member of the organization has to do their fair share. And that also includes web designers.

Ensuring the code’s good, relying on a VPN to encrypt the connection, protecting the passwords, etc. All of these things play a major role in improving cybersecurity, so let’s take a closer look.

First Thing’s First

Writing a quality code takes a lot of time and effort, but it’s essential. Cybercriminals are agile and constantly working on ways that’ll help them navigate around a website’s code. Staying on top of trends and being familiar with the popular methods hackers use could prove to be invaluable.

Investing in ethical hackers after designing a website is a great idea. They can help find any vulnerabilities and report them so that they can be fixed.

Navigation

This refers to the general internet navigation rather than the navigation of the website that’s being designed. Staying vigilant when browsing the internet from the office computer can save everyone a lot of trouble.

There are countless of malicious websites that can compromise the security of the computer. Over 350,000 new malicious programs are detected every day. And even with good firewalls in place, some can still slip through the cracks. Wise navigation is always advised.

Secure Connection

An internet connection that’s open to others poses major risks, as it enables anyone with some skill to attack a device connected to that network.

The only thing that ensures a truly secure and private internet connection is a VPN. VPN creates a tunnel between the device and the network. It routes internet traffic through remote servers, providing an anonymous connection with almost indecipherable encryption.

Relying on a VPN is especially important for those who often need to connect to public networks to make changes to the website.

Considering All Vulnerabilities

Even if the website itself was designed following the best cybersecurity practices, there are other vulnerabilities.

Companies with social media accounts must ensure those accounts are secure as well. Employee emails, personal and other accounts must be considered as well.

Companies with BYOD policies have to ensure the cybersecurity of each device. All vulnerabilities must be taken into account to really improve the company’s cybersecurity.

Sensitive Information

Businesses that sell their products online must ensure all client credit card information is completely secure.

The countless data breaches of the past few years have made many people wary. Therefore, if a company doesn’t have proper security measures in place, customers are more likely to take their business elsewhere.

While storing client information on a computer is essential, that information must never land on a company’s website. No page should store sensitive client information. This would only increase the chance of cyberattack and has no benefits whatsoever.

Password Protection

Creating a strong password for a website is a must. Good passwords are the first step towards improving the overall cybersecurity. So, web designers should come up with one that’s impossible to guess.

Any public information about the business should not be in the password. The best solution here is to rely on password managers that can generate strong and unique passwords.

The Backup Plan

No matter how well-designed a website is, some mistakes will peek through. This is why it’s always good to have a backup plan for the worst-case scenario.

Having a backup plan will ensure that the best course of action is taken in case of a breach. It will limit the potential losses, and it will be easier to deal with the crisis. Having a backup plan, practicing safe internet browsing, and using a VPN. All of this is necessary to improve the overall cybersecurity of the whole organization. None of these steps should be skipped, as cybersecurity is not a single solution to a single problem – it’s different parts working together.