5 Security Tips to Know When Using a Shared Hosting

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In 2017, losses from cybercrime cost its victims over $1.4 billion, reports SC Media. This number is set to increase if one is to believe the 2018 Current State of Cybercrime report. There can be no doubt that using the most efficient cybersecurity tools is paramount to any business owner who wants to succeed. Sadly, protecting a website using a shared server is a challenge. To do this you’ll need to use specialized tactics.

1. Keep your website up to date

Updating every element of the website be it a theme or a plugin is essential for maintaining its security. The most common way for malware onto your website is through third-party PHP script that attaches itself to the vulnerabilities created by outdated elements. From there it spreads all over the website and the server.

When you use shared hosting, you can’t monitor your ‘neighbors’ to ensure they don’t create such weaknesses. So the only thing you can do is to keep your own website up to date so it can be as secure as possible.

2. Get the best firewall money can buy

Firewall is your main protection from the attacks coming from both the server itself and the Web. That’s why you should spare no expense on this solution. You also have to ensure its auto-update feature is active at all times.

Shared hosting providers often include firewall into their service package. However, you should verify its reliability first and find out if using a different solution will be possible with your shared hosting package. You should also study IT news and tutorials to know of all the latest cybersecurity developments.

3. Find hosting with a high disaster recovery rate

99.9% is the uptime you need to look for in a hosting service when using a shared server. This is necessary to ensure the highest performance and security levels for your website. To achieve this the hosting network must have redundant hardware that will kick in instantly to get the system back up.

The scheme that will have your website with such a tiny downtime also requires much more profound options than regular file backup. Your server should have a complete copy that can be brought up immediately to get a ‘clean’ version of your website back online.

4. Learn the extent of your capabilities

When you use shared hosting, you won’t be in full control of the server’s security. Therefore, it’s essential to know exactly where your control ends. Will the host’s technical team monitor firewalls or do you need to? Do you need to implement SSL yourself?

You also need to know how monitoring and security systems on the server work to understand how you can augment it.

5. Validate from the browser and server sides

Double-validation is the extra layer of security you need to ensure maximum protection for your website. Browser-only validation is only able to catch simple issues. Server-side validation is needed to increase this number significantly.

The biggest issue with shared hosting security is that your control over your own website’s protection is limited. You also face a risk of attacks from within the server. Finding a hosting provider that will allow you more control is key to increasing your website’s protection.