Website Hosting

Secure Web Hosting


Does web hosting secure my website?

Does web hosting secure my website? If yes please let me know where I can get the best web host I need to secure my website thank you.

A website is actually a collection of pieces of software and hardware that are joined together into an entire system.

Any one of those pieces could have a security vulnerability which could make your website insecure.

Some of the components in a website are:
1) the server-side scripting language (PHP, ASP, Java, ColdFusion, Perl, etc.)
2) the HTTP server (Apache, IIS, Lighttpd, etc)
3) the database software (MySQL, MS SQL, Oracle, PostGres SQL, etc.)
4) the Operating System (Linux, Windows, Solaris, BSD, etc.)
5) the web applications (WordPress, Joomla, VBulletin, phpBB, etc.)

Web hosting companies vary a lot in what they provide but some will do almost everything for you. They will make sure that the operating system, the database software, the HTTP server, the scripting language and sometimes even the web applications are always up to date. Some will make sure that every part of the server is configured securely and if you still get someone taking over your machine, they will restore it from backups and patch the vulnerability.

Unfortunately, web hosting companies that do all this tend to be rather expensive. Cheaper hosts tend to do less. Some hosts will give you a network port and a power socket and expect you to supply everything else yourself.

Ask your web host exactly what they do and what they provide.

Encryption in websites usually refers to SSL. You can identify SSL pages because they have a URL that starts with https:// instead of http://. With SSL pages both the request for the page and the response containing the page are encrypted before leaving the computer and not decrypted until the reach their destination. This means that any sensitive information (such as your user’s passwords) cannot be read by anyone other than them and you. Even though the traffic goes through their ISP, no one at the ISP could read their password.

The short versions of both answers are:

1) Some webhosts will secure your server. You will have to ask yours whether they do.
2) An SSL certificate provides extra security for your website’s visitors. It also provides security for you when you are logging in to your own website.