Articles: Why am I seeing warnings about security?
Date Added: 23/03/2017 @ 8:56am
In the past few months you may have noticed warnings appearing on websites that you have been using for years about security. Have these websites suddenly become unsafe? Have they been hacked?
The answer is probably No.
The truth is that times are changing and what was once considered to be safe, now isn't. The website is as safe now as it was before but the standards are changing.
What has changed?
What has changed is that browsers like Chrome and Firefox have started warning the public that if they enter passwords on an unsecured website that it is possible for that information to be intercepted - simply because it is not encrypted.
Since a lot of people will use the same password for multiple websites, it is therefore possible that if they have one password these hackers will be able to access your other accounts.
What can I do about this?
If you run a website which is now showing you this message then you can stop this by setting up a secure server (or in other words by adding a security certificate). A lot of hosting providers will charge you extra to do this. Our customers would need to upgrade to our secure hosting package which costs £150 per year. The upgrade is currently on special offer for free to our existing customers for the first 12 months*.
But do you need it? If you have a public login - i.e. a page which has a password field, then it will probably benefit you to do so as not having it will probably deter new sign ups.
If, however, your only login is to do with administering the website then you probably don't need to do so - unless that is your admin system handles information of a sensitive nature like personal information.
Ideally every website should be secured with HTTPS - which is becoming the new standard - but at present we appreciate that the additional cost may be prohibitive for owners of smaller websites. It is possible that as this level of security becomes more standard for website hosting that the costs involved may reduce.
If you would like any information about securing your website, please give us a call or send us an email.
Dave