In 2024, gone are the days when operating a website (or even a computer) required extensive and specific knowledge of web development.
Today, building and launching a new web page boils down to choosing a website builder, a domain name, and a reliable web hosting plan.
Now, this last one is particularly essential for your success.
The right provider will not only ensure you have a well-suited environment for your online project — they can help you secure it as well. This is important, because cybersecurity reports outline a growing number of cyberattacks and unveil concerning statistics about the dangers looming over our websites.
Where does the web hosting world stand on cybersecurity in 2024? Keep reading to find out.
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The current state of cybersecurity
The number of websites worldwide still grows exponentially, and so does the incentive for attackers to try and breach them. The reasons for that are countless - profit, competitor espionage, security tests. Some attackers even do it for the fun of it, just to prove they can.
According to 2020 statistics, data breaches have caused over 36 billion records to be exposed just by the first half of the year. Then you have the rising number of malware and virus threats, the growing pressure over essential sectors like banking and healthcare, new strategies like ransomware.
The pandemic didn't help either. As more people were stuck at working at home behind their screens, hackers were more active than ever. In fact, cybercrime numbers increased by a whopping 600% after the pandemic began.
Defending your website against hackers now involves knowing and understandign the intricate strategies that hackers use to breach your business databases and websites. Let's talk about them now.
Common cybersecurity concerns
We have to get one thing straight from the beginning. Even though there are hundreds of different ways a hacker can breach our premises, 90% of successful attempts are still a result of our own errors.
More and more businesses are recognizing the growing threats, but the majority of webmasters are still way behind when it comes to securing passwords, hosting accounts, and their site itself.
That's just great news for hackers. Relying on your weak security, they can besiege your website with a plethora of methods.
Malware: this is a broad term that encompasses all kinds of malicious practices that aim to cause damage to your computer, website, or server. Common types of malware include viruses, trojans, worms, spyware, ransomware, adware, and many more.
Malicious files can disrupt your system in many ways. Some are designed to retrieve private information from the breached account. Others deny administrative access to essential components, efficiently locking you out of your own system. There are even those that simply want to erase or destroy anything they can infect.
- Check out our roundup of the best malware removal software
Phishing: One of the most quickly developing types of attacks. Hackers utilize phishing when they want to appear as a legitimate entity, robbing unsuspecting victims of their personal information.
Phishing attacks often occur via emails or social media messages, posing as banking institutions, telecoms, or government authorities. They will prompt you to update some vital piece of information by redirecting you to a seemingly legit page. In reality, you will just be giving hackers your current private details.
Phishing attacks can also take different shapes and forms, like whaling, spear phishing, pharming, and more.
DOS and DDoS Attacks: DOS stands for denial-of-service and represents a type of attack where the attacker aims to overload the server, draining it from its available system resources. The system gradually slows down until it becomes completely inoperable.
When we talk about distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, we depict the process of the hacker using multiple infected machines to blast traffic toward the server. Again, the idea is to take your server down and possibly launch more attacks afterward.
Botnets, TCP SYN flood, and ping-of-death are among the common types of DOS and DDOS threats.
- Here is our list of best DDoS protection
SQL Injections: This is a popular way for hackers to insert malicious code and force it to reveal private user and admin data. The injections affect the server query language (SQL), so you can get enough control over the machine. Comment and search boxes are often a great target for SQL injection attacks.
Cross Site Scripting: During cross-site scripting (or XSS), attackers mix malicious code with content from legitimate websites. This allows the script to travel all the way to the visitor's browser and infect it as well. XSS attacks often employ malicious JavaScript code but can also include HTML, CSS, and flash files as well.
Password Attacks: At the end of the day, our weak passwords remain the most often cause of our hacker issues. People are still using simple and easy-to-guess login credentials based on their memorability, but this opens a huge doorway for unauthorized attackers to get in.
Brute-force and dictionary attacks are two widespread breaching methods, and once hackers get your password - it's smooth sailing toward all your data.
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Recent examples of cybersecurity attacks
Cybersecurity breaches in web hosting environments can have devastating consequences for businesses, affecting not only their operations but also compromising sensitive customer data. Recent years have seen a surge in sophisticated attacks targeting hosting providers and their clients.
These incidents highlight the critical importance of maintaining robust security measures and staying vigilant against evolving threats. Let's examine three significant cases that demonstrate the real-world impact of web hosting security breaches.
GoDaddy multi-year breach (2020-2023)
In a shocking revelation, GoDaddy discovered a sophisticated attack that had persisted for multiple years. The breach involved attackers stealing source code and installing malware on dedicated servers, affecting over 1.2 million Managed WordPress customers.
The attackers gained access through compromised passwords and penetrated the company's cPanel, allowing them to redirect traffic to malicious domains.
This incident exposed customer email addresses, WordPress administrator passwords, database credentials, and SSL private keys. The breach demonstrated how persistent threats can remain undetected for extended periods, causing widespread damage.
Ticketmaster database compromise (2024)
The ShinyHunters hacking group orchestrated a sophisticated attack on Ticketmaster through a third-party database breach.
Using phishing techniques to steal credentials from a Snowflake employee, they deployed malware that exposed 1.3 terabytes of data affecting 560 million customers. The incident highlighted the vulnerabilities in supply chain security and the importance of monitoring third-party access.
The breach resulted in significant financial losses and prompted regulatory scrutiny, including an antitrust lawsuit from the U.S. Department of Justice.
AT&T customer data exposure (2024)
A massive data breach at AT&T resulted in 73 million customer records being posted on dark web forums. The exposed information included sensitive data such as names, phone numbers, social security numbers, and encrypted passcodes of 7.9 million current customers.
The breach, believed to be executed through credential stuffing, forced AT&T to implement a mass-reset of customer passcodes.
This incident strongly highlights the importance of robust password policies and conditional access controls in preventing unauthorized access.
What can you do about your cybersecurity?
Web hosting security requires a multi-layered approach to protect against evolving cyber threats. Modern attacks have become increasingly sophisticated, targeting vulnerabilities at various levels — from server infrastructure to individual user accounts.
The key to robust web hosting security lies in implementing comprehensive protective measures while maintaining vigilant monitoring of potential threats. This approach helps prevent common attacks like DDoS, malware infections, and unauthorized access attempts that can compromise your website and sensitive data.
Let's explore the essential security measures you should implement to protect your web hosting environment:
1. Setting up a firewall
A web application firewall (WAF) acts as your first line of defense, filtering and monitoring traffic between your web applications and the internet. It helps protect against cross-site scripting (XSS), SQL injection, and other malicious attacks. Modern WAFs use AI-powered systems to detect and block suspicious activities before they can cause damage.
2. Optimizing your website code
Secure coding practices are crucial for preventing vulnerabilities. This includes validating all user inputs, implementing proper error handling, and regularly updating your codebase. Remove unused applications and plugins to minimize potential attack vectors.
3. Utilizing secure software and plugins
Choose reputable security plugins that offer comprehensive protection. Solutions like Sucuri and Wordfence provide features such as malware scanning, exploit detection, and threat assessment. Regular software updates and patches are essential to address system vulnerabilities.
4. Changing your admin username and login URL
Modify your default admin login URL to prevent automated attacks. You can change the WordPress login URL using plugins or by manually editing the wp-login.php file. This simple step significantly reduces the risk of brute force attacks.
5. Using two-factor authentication (2FA)
Implement 2FA to add an extra layer of security beyond passwords. This requires users to provide a second form of verification, typically through an authentication app like Google Authenticator. 2FA makes it extremely difficult for hackers to access your account, even if they obtain your password.
6. Keeping your own computer secured
Maintain updated antivirus software and regularly scan for malware on your local machine. This prevents attackers from exploiting your computer as an entry point to your hosting environment.
7. Activating a password management tool
Use enterprise-grade password managers to generate and store strong, unique passwords. Solutions like Enpass or ManageEngine Password Manager Pro provide centralized password vaults with features like password rotation and complexity enforcement.
8. Choosing a reliable web host
And then, of course, you have your hosting provider right in the middle of it.
A reliable host applies several layers of security even before they accommodate your account - over the data centers, the network, the server machines. Ensuring the environment is completely safe before the clients land on it will only leave users with their own security responsibilities.
Taking things a step further, companies like ScalaHosting develop in-house solutions to further protect customers from malware and spam. SShield, for example, is an AI-powered security monitoring tool that detects over 99.998% of web attacks, completely free for all managed VPS users.
Speaking of virtual servers, opting for such a plan will remove all the obstacles that come with the standard shared hosting environment. A VPS will allow you full control over your hosting account, so you can configure your security measures to perfection.
Thinking long term
Today's website owners have more than a few cybersecurity concerns to wrap their heads around.
The incentives for hackers are getting more lucrative — even non-commercial projects are not out of danger. Picking up a secure host and following the recommended practices are a great start, but make sure to always have a detailed backup and recovery strategy to avoid problems down the road.
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