One of the most common misconceptions related to website security is that hackers only target big corporations—not anymore. Small businesses, too, are in the crosshairs, and the threat is only growing.

Cybercriminals understand that smaller organizations do not have the resources and budget to reinforce their site security measures. Obviously, this makes them a prime target for data breaches. The good news is more small businesses are stepping up, investing in better security tools, and building stronger defenses to protect what they’ve worked so hard to build. In fact, global spending on cybersecurity is rising every year:

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In this guide, we’ll explore the cost businesses have to pay (literally and figuratively) with a weakened defense in place. We’ll also learn about key website security best practices and how to secure your website from the get-go.

What is Website Security?

Website security keeps your site safe from cyberattacks that can steal data, take control of your pages, and shut everything down. Hackers target public websites of all sizes, looking for weak spots to exploit.

A breach can lead to defaced pages, downtime, stolen customer information, or even attackers using your site to spread malware. These threats put your business at risk by damaging trust, driving away visitors, and causing financial loss.

Strong security measures protect your site’s data and help you avoid the fallout of a cyberattack.

8 Advantages of Website Security You Can’t Ignore

Neglecting website security is not an option anymore:

  • If hackers get in, your customers’ information is at risk.
  • Viruses and malware could compromise your assets.
  • And even worse, your business reputation could be permanently damaged.
  • Plus, the cost to clean up a breach, not to mention the potential loss of customers, is far greater than investing in proactive security measures.

Here’s why you must take website security seriously:

1. Protects Your Customers’ Trust

Your customers trust you with their personal information, like payment details and contact data. If that data gets into the wrong hands, it spells disaster for them. A secure website keeps their data safe and builds trust. When customers feel secure, they’ll be more likely to stick around and buy from you again.

2. Keeps Your Reputation Intact

Nothing damages your reputation faster than a security breach. Imagine a potential customer visiting your site and seeing a “Not Secure” warning.

They’ll leave—and that trust you’ve worked so hard to build will vanish. Keeping your site secure shows customers you care about their safety and are serious about providing a reliable experience.

If you get hacked, you may even need to send out a message to your customers saying their data was compromised. That can make it much harder to earn their trust again. Plus, the media might pick up on your breach, which means even more bad publicity. That could hit your sales hard and make customers think twice before doing business with you.

3. Protects Your Business Data

Your website is more than just a sales tool. It holds sensitive business information—financial details, strategies, and customer data. If hackers get in, they can steal it all. Securing your website means keeping your business data locked up tight. And with regular backups and cloud security, you won’t be left scrambling if something goes wrong.

4. Avoids Costly Downtime

A hacked website can lead to downtime, and downtime equals lost revenue. Every minute your site is down is a missed opportunity and frustrated customers. A secure site helps you avoid these costly disruptions and keeps customers happy.

If your site does get hacked, the cost of fixing it can get high quickly. For example, if malware is installed on your site, you’ll need to hire a professional to clean up the mess. The longer you wait to address the issue, the more expensive it gets.

This could drain your time and budget. Needless to say, a proactive approach is much more cost-effective than a reactive one.

5. Boosts Your SEO Rankings

Search engines such as Google favor secure websites. Sites with HTTPS get a boost in rankings because Google wants to protect users. If your site isn’t secure, you risk falling in search rankings and losing valuable traffic. In other words, securing your site is an easy way to keep your SEO game strong.

6. Prevents Your Site from Getting Blacklisted

It’s no secret that getting blacklisted by Google is a nightmare for any business. If your site is hacked and flagged, it can quickly lose all of its organic traffic. Regular security updates and audits help prevent this from happening so your business stays visible and trustworthy.

Once your site is blacklisted, potential customers will be warned by web browsers that it’s unsafe. That’s a fast way to lose trust and sales. Plus, you could get punished in search results, which means fewer customers will even find your site.

7. Protects Your Assets and Equipment

Cybersecurity breaches can impact more than just your website. Hackers can infect your systems with viruses, causing damage to your computers, servers, and other tech. Fixing and replacing these systems is costly. Protecting your website also protects your physical equipment all the while saving you time and money in the long run.

8. Prevents Fraud and Fake Sites

Hackers can create fake versions of your site to steal customer data. This is called spoofing, and it can ruin your reputation. With solid security in place, you can prevent these attacks and keep both your customers and your brand safe.

5 Common Website Vulnerabilities You Should Know About

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Cyber threats are evolving at an alarming pace across every industry, and business owners who don’t take website security seriously risk losing everything—customer trust, revenue, and even control of their online presence. A single breach can lead to data theft, financial fraud, legal trouble, and downtime that cripples your business.

Here are the most common website vulnerabilities you need to be aware of and how to protect your business from cyberattacks:

1. SQL Injection (SQLi) Attacks

Business Challenge: Many websites rely on databases to store customer data, login credentials, and transaction details. Poorly secured databases are prime targets for SQL injection attacks, where hackers insert malicious SQL queries into input fields to access, modify, or delete sensitive data. If your website doesn’t validate user input, attackers can gain complete control over your database.

Best Practices to Prevent SQL Injection:

  • Use prepared statements and parameterized queries to ensure user inputs are handled safely.
  • Sanitize and validate all input fields to block malicious SQL queries.
  • Restrict database permissions so that even if an attacker gains entry, they have limited access.
  • Monitor database queries and logs for any suspicious activity.
Who Benefits Most? Key Questions to Ask Factors to Consider
Website developers, database admins Are my database queries secure? Do I validate user inputs? Use parameterized queries, limit permissions, monitor logs

2. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) Attacks

Business Challenge: XSS attacks happen when attackers inject malicious scripts into a website, which then execute in users’ browsers. These attacks can steal login credentials, impersonate users, or redirect visitors to harmful sites. Websites with unfiltered user input, like comment sections and contact forms, are the most vulnerable.

Best Practices to Prevent XSS:

  • Escape and sanitize user input to prevent scripts from executing in browsers.
  • Use Content Security Policy (CSP) to block unauthorized scripts from running.
  • Encode special characters so that user-generated content cannot be interpreted as code.
  • Validate and filter data before storing or displaying it on your site.
Who Benefits Most? Key Questions to Ask Factors to Consider
Website admins, developers Does my site allow user-generated content? Am I sanitizing input properly? Implement CSP, encode characters, validate input

3. Broken Authentication and Session Management

Business Challenge: Weak authentication systems allow hackers to hijack user sessions, steal passwords, and gain administrative access. Poor session management can leave logged-in users vulnerable to attacks, leading to unauthorized transactions or data breaches.

Best Practices to Strengthen Authentication:

  • Use multi-factor authentication (MFA) to add an extra layer of security.
  • Enforce strong password policies requiring long, unique passwords.
  • Implement session expiration and automatic logouts to reduce the risk of stolen sessions.
  • Use secure cookie settings to prevent session hijacking attacks.
Who Benefits Most? Key Questions to Ask Factors to Consider
Business owners, IT teams Are user sessions secure? Do I enforce strong authentication? MFA, session expiration, secure cookies

4. Insecure Direct Object References (IDOR)

Business Challenge: If users can manipulate URLs or request data they shouldn’t have access to, attackers can easily retrieve confidential business or customer data. This happens when a website exposes internal identifiers (like database keys) without properly checking permissions.

Best Practices to Prevent IDOR Attacks:

  • Use proper access controls to prevent unauthorized data exposure.
  • Avoid exposing internal database IDs in URLs or public-facing elements.
  • Implement authentication and authorization checks before serving sensitive data.
  • Audit access logs to detect unusual access patterns.
Who Benefits Most? Key Questions to Ask Factors to Consider
IT admins, developers Can users access data they shouldn’t? Are access controls enforced? Role-based access, audit logs, secure APIs

5. Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) Attacks

Business Challenge: CSRF attacks mislead users into performing actions they didn’t intend to, like changing account settings or making transactions, by exploiting their active login sessions. If your website doesn’t verify user requests properly, attackers can hijack accounts.

Best Practices to Prevent CSRF:

  • Use CSRF tokens to validate user actions and prevent unauthorized requests.
  • Require user re-authentication before critical actions like password changes.
  • Implement SameSite cookie attributes to prevent malicious cross-site requests.
  • Educate users on phishing attacks that could lead to CSRF exploitation.
Who Benefits Most? Key Questions to Ask Factors to Consider
Security teams, website admins Do I verify every user action? Are CSRF tokens in place? CSRF tokens, re-authentication, secure cookies

8 Website Security Best Practices You Must Follow

A report by the World Economic Forum suggests that cybersecurity for businesses will remain a global risk for 2025 and the coming decade:

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Organizations that take your site security lightly will find themselves in a soup.

So what does it take to secure your website? We’d say a mix of strong security habits and the right tools. Here’s how you can keep your site safe:

1. Secure Your Domain and Hosting Environment

Hackers can take control of your website by exploiting weak domain settings or hijacking your DNS records. If your domain isn’t secure, attackers can redirect your traffic, steal login credentials, or inject malicious code.

What to do:

  • Regularly review your domain registrar and DNS settings to spot unauthorized changes.
  • Change default passwords from your domain provider or hosting company to prevent easy takeovers.
  • Enable multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all admin accounts to add an extra layer of security.
  • Monitor certificate transparency logs to catch suspicious activity before it leads to a full-blown breach.

2. Protect User Accounts and Access Controls

If employees, contractors, or vendors have unnecessary access to your website, attackers can exploit their accounts. Weak passwords and excessive privileges make it easier for hackers to get in.

What to do:

  • Require MFA for all accounts, especially those with admin access.
  • Apply the principle of least privilege—only give users the minimum access they need.
  • Regularly audit and remove inactive accounts to prevent unauthorized access.

3. Scan for Vulnerabilities and Patch Weaknesses Quickly

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Cloud security is a major cause of concern for organizations. And why not? Outdated software and unpatched security flaws are some of the biggest reasons websites get hacked. Attackers use automated tools to find sites running old plugins, themes, or server configurations.

What to do:

  • Run security scans regularly to identify weaknesses in your site, hosting, and applications.
  • Patch critical vulnerabilities within 15 days and high-risk ones within 30 days.
  • Turn on automatic updates for software, plugins, and server configurations where possible.
  • Upgrade outdated software or hardware to avoid known exploits.

4. Encrypt Data and Secure Website Traffic

If your site doesn’t enforce HTTPS, attackers can intercept data between your website and users. This puts sensitive information, such as passwords and payment details, at risk.

What to do:

  • Force HTTPS across your website to encrypt traffic and protect user data.
  • Enable HTTP Strict Transport Security (HSTS) to prevent hackers from downgrading your site to an unsecured connection.
  • Disable weak encryption protocols like SSLv2 and SSLv3 to reduce security risks.

5. Backup Your Data to Prevent Permanent Loss

A cyberattack, accidental deletion, or system failure can wipe out your website data. If you don’t have backups, recovery can be impossible.

What to do:

  • Set up automatic daily backups of your website files, database, and configurations.
  • Store backups in a separate location from your live site.
  • Test your backup restoration process to ensure you can recover quickly after an attack.

6. Secure Web Applications and Plugins

Many attacks happen because of vulnerabilities in website plugins, themes, or third-party integrations. Unsecured applications can open the door to cross-site scripting (XSS) or SQL injection attacks.

What to do:

  • Fix the most common website security risks first, using resources like the OWASP Top 10.
  • Enable logging to track security events and identify unauthorized access attempts.
  • Require MFA for logging into your website and any third-party apps connected to it.

7. Lock Down Your Web Server

Attackers can exploit weaknesses in your web server’s configurations to gain control of your site. Poorly managed servers expose sensitive data and make your entire business vulnerable.

What to do:

  • Follow security best practices for configuring your web server (e.g., Apache, Nginx, MySQL).
  • Disable unnecessary modules, features, or services that hackers can exploit.
  • Use network segmentation to separate your web server from internal business systems.
  • Remove any sensitive data that doesn’t need to be stored on your server.

8. Strengthen Website Code and Performance

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Hackers often inject malicious scripts into unsecured websites, leading to stolen data, compromised user sessions, or performance issues. Poorly optimized sites also struggle under denial-of-service (DoS) attacks.

What to do:

  • Sanitize all user input to prevent hackers from injecting malicious scripts.
  • Enable caching to handle high-traffic loads and prevent your site from crashing under a DoS attack.
  • Implement website protection against cross-site scripting (XSS) and cross-site request forgery (XSRF).
  • Use a Content Security Policy (CSP) to block unauthorized scripts from running.

Bonus: Security Best Practices at a Glance

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Security Tip Who Benefits Most? Key Questions to Ask Factors to Consider
1. Secure domain and hosting Business owners, IT teams Are my domain and DNS settings protected? Change default passwords, enable MFA, monitor domain activity
2. Protect user accounts Website admins, teams with multiple users Who has access to my site? Do they need it? Enforce MFA, limit user permissions, remove inactive accounts
3. Scan and patch vulnerabilities Business owners, IT managers Is my software up to date? Are there known risks? Run security scans, patch fast, upgrade outdated software
4. Encrypt data and enforce HTTPS Any website with customer interactions Is my site forcing HTTPS? Are weak encryption protocols disabled? Enforce HSTS, disable old encryption protocols
5. Backup website data Business owners, IT admins How often are backups taken? Can I restore my site quickly? Store backups securely, test recovery process
6. Secure web applications Businesses using third-party plugins or web apps Are my plugins and apps secure? Are logs monitored? Apply patches, enable logging, require MFA for logins
7. Lock down web servers Businesses managing their own hosting Are unnecessary features or modules enabled? Harden configurations, segment networks, remove unnecessary data
8. Strengthen website code Developers, IT teams Is user input sanitized? Are my scripts protected? Implement CSP, protect against XSS and XSRF, enable caching

Your Website Deserves Better Security—And BigRock Delivers

Cybercriminals are always on the move. They target weak websites and exploit gaps before you even realize they exist. A single breach can lock you out of your site, expose customer data, or bring your business to a halt. Ignoring security risks isn’t an option if you want to protect what you’ve built.

And with an entrepreneur being pulled into multiple directions, website security can take a backseat. What you need is strong security that works in the background while you focus on growing your business.

This is where a partner like BigRock can help. We’ll provide you with the requisite tools to keep attackers out and ensure your website runs smoothly at all times. Secure your site now and stay ahead of threats before they cost you time, money, and trust!

Get in touch with the team today!

FAQs

1. How Much Does It Cost to Set Up a Website?

Setting up a website can range from $1,000 to $15,000 depending on factors like the number of pages, design complexity, features, and platform choice. The cost also varies depending on the developer’s hourly rates and location.

2. How Much Does It Cost to Build a Website?

The price for building a website generally falls between $300 and $5,000. This estimate fluctuates based on the website’s features, complexity, and the platform used for development. Additional factors, such as the developer’s experience, project size, and geographic location, will also influence the total cost.

3. What Are the Three Key Elements of a Secure Website?

For a website to be secure, three fundamental components are essential:

  • HTTPS (SSL certificates/TLS Encryption): This ensures data between your site and users is encrypted and protected.
  • Strong Authentication and Access Control: It restricts unauthorized access, making sure only trusted users can modify your site.
  • Regular Software Updates and Patch Management: Keeping your website’s software updated ensures that vulnerabilities are patched and security holes are closed.

4. What Are the Seven Types of Cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity covers a range of strategies aimed at protecting different aspects of your business. Here are seven key types:

  • Network Security: Guards your networks against cyberattacks.
  • Information Security: Protects sensitive information from unauthorized access.
  • Endpoint Security: Secures devices like computers and smartphones connected to your network.
  • Cloud Security: Safeguards data stored in the cloud.
  • Application Security: Focuses on protecting the apps that run on your website.
  • IoT Security: Protects Internet of Things devices from security threats.
  • Identity and Access Management: Controls access to critical systems, ensuring only authorized users can make changes.

5. What Are Website Security and SSL Certificates?

Website security refers to the practices and measures that protect your site from cyber threats like malware, hacking, and data breaches. SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer, is a security certificate that encrypts data transferred between your website and its visitors. It not only ensures secure communication but also authenticates your site’s identity.