We build our charity websites on the popular open source software WordPress.
Because WordPress is free and open source, it is the most popular website building platform in the world, powering almost 35% of the entire web.
That’s a LOT of websites.
Unfortunately this also means that WordPress is particularly appealing to hackers. Therefore, anyone who runs a WordPress website must view security with the highest concern.
How we maximise website security for our clients
Strong login details
We generate passwords using a strong password generator and avoid predictable usernames such as “admin”. This approach makes it much harder for “brute force” attacks to successfully gain access to any of our client websites. We don’t just apply this principle to website logins; the same level of security is applied to databases and account logins as well.
Regular software upgrades
WordPress and its suite of plugins are updated frequently. Often this is in response to some new security alert. We ensure that the software that powers our client websites is kept bang up to date, minimising the risk of security vulnerabilities and reducing the chance of exploitation.
Website backups
We capture and encrypt all client websites and databases on a weekly basis and store backups for three months. This provides a little extra insurance in the unlikely event of serious website failure.
Secure website hosting over SSL
Our client websites are hosted on a secure server running an SSL certificate. This essentially means that information is encrypted when transferred over the wire. To give an example of this, when a client logs in to edit their website, their login details are encrypted. In the unlikely event that these details are intercepted during form submission, the encryption makes it much more difficult for unscrupulous hackers to see those details.
Going above and beyond…
We also run active monitoring tools to protect our clients from things like malware, suspicious code and unexpected file changes. And we log website activity to flag up any unusual behaviour.
It is this pragmatic and robust approach to security that makes our website development service one of the best options for charities.