Choosing a dedicated server gives you many advantages, not the least of which is control, allowing you to customise it in the way that fits your needs. But dedicated servers are susceptible to security threats, some of which are geared to stealing your data, possibly credit card information, leading to further crimes, other threats geared towards causing disruption in your business on a large scale, called denial of service attacks. It is vitally important to be secure from such threats.

What You Should Know!

Here are a few steps you can take to protect your dedicated server from security breaches.

Secured Password Policy

Make sure that your password is a minimum of 8 characters in length. Make your password complex, including punctuation, symbols and numbers, testing it in a password tool for extra security. Employ different passwords for your different roles or accounts. Don’t use passwords that are vulnerable to dictionary attacks. Make sure that your password doesn’t repeat a sequence of characters such as 4444 or xyzxyzxyz. Don’t make use of personal data in your passwords, information such as your date of birth. Employ the use of a password manager, helping you keep a tab on your passwords without compromising on security. Whenever you can, use two-factor authentication. Make use of a secure password generator.

Secure Communications

Don’t use plain FTP; opt for secure FTP. Don’t use telnet; opt for SSH. Make sure your email connections are secure. Use SSL to secure all areas of web administration. Use VPN. Make web forms secure using SSL. Don’t access information that is sensitive from public computers.

Regular Server Scanning & Testing

Find hosting providers offering vulnerability scanning on an ongoing basis. Regularly check your webpages, detecting unexpected behaviour. Make sure to test your software using isolated, secure devices. Only then upload it to your webpage.

Firewall Protection

Make sure your hosting provider offers a high-quality perimeter firewall, stopping malicious data from reaching your server.

Website Security

Make sure you check for loopholes in your server, preventing malicious parties from accessing sensitive and confidential information.

Database Security & Management

Protect your database from SQL injection, protecting your clients’ sensitive and confidential information. Don’t ignore the updating and maintenance of your data. Make sure your database users have minimal privileges and that unwanted data is deleted. Keep interaction of database and customers minimal, avoiding them where they’re not required.

Data Backups

Back up your data regularly, copying important data elsewhere, preventing data loss in case of an attack, enabling data retrieval. Have a contingency plan in place in case of hard drive failure or loss of external data.

Software Updates

Regularly update your software, keeping in touch with the latest patches, security updates and other forms of protection required for keeping information safe. Install new versions of software as soon as they’re available. Use reliable server security scans to stay protected and updated.

Take away!

At BizQuip, we can provide secure data network and security solutions to your servers. If your business, school or a hospital needs data network security then give us a call. Our expert network security specialist will be able to assist and provide the right advice.