Digital Safety Checklist for your Business

2016 Combined BizHubMaroondahLogo

 

Our digital checklist is brought to you with the support of Maroondah BizWeek and BizHub Maroondah.

 

 

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Do you control your domain name? Is it registered in your name, your email address, your ABN?

We have found, way too many times, that domain names don’t get registered in the actual business owners name and ABN!  You may be paying someone to re-register your domain, but it may not be legally yours!
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You can easily check here, https://whois.auda.org.au/.  Just type in your website address, eg. artful.com.au  enter the ‘Control text’ and click SUBMIT.  If the ‘Registrant’ information is not yours we would advise getting in contact with who is listed as the registrant! 

Who holds your keys?  For your website, hosting, email?  

Do you know who to contact for your email? Your website hosting?  Your website developer?  Your domain name?  Do you know your logins and passwords to access all of this info directly?  If your host/ IT person/ web developer was hit by a bus could you easily access your information?
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Is your website up to date to the latest versions?  

Update core CMS and plugins consistently to ensure it is not outdated and vulnerable to hackers, glitches and bugs?
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Can a basic attacker easily work out what software your website uses?

Most common CMS’s, Wordpress, Joomla etc use a standard url to access the administrator.  wp-admin, wp-login etc.  It is wise to change this to something unique using a security plugin or changing the admin file name to mask access to admin from hackers. (nb. changing file name will break internal links, so do not do this yourself unless you know what you are doing)
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Are all of your passwords; website and email, unique and uncrackable?

Some tips to make really secure passwords:
  • Use unique passwords for everything.
  • Do not use personal info.
  • Combine unrelated random phrases.
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Is your email address cloaked/ encrypted on your website?

Do you get a lot of email SPAM?  SPAMBOTS continually crawl the web looking for uncloaked email addresses displayed on websites.

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You can check if your email address is cloaked on your own website by going to your website, right click your mouse, click view page source, search the code for your email address (CTRL + F).  If you can see your email address in it’s entirety so can the bots!

Are your online forms using a captcha?

While we're on the subject of email SPAM, are you using a captcha on your contact forms on your website?
Captcha's, provide an extra level of protection from SPAMBOTs.  It stops them from automatically filling out and sending your form enmasse!
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are your forms using a captchaStandard Captcha


    are your contact forms using a captchaReCaptcha V2


    are your forms using an invisible recaptchaInvisible ReCaptcha
A badge displayed at bottom RHS of entire website

These are an example of a captcha.  They are usually found at the end of a form just before the SUBMIT/ SEND button.  If you can submit your form without having to complete one of these tasks, you are possibly not using a captcha. (Unless your entire site is protected by the Invisible ReCaptcha)

Do you have an SSL protecting your website?

SSL’s protect sensitive data, builds customer trust and help your site rank higher on search engines.

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To check go to your website and see if you have a padlock or https:// before your web address.
do you have an ssl

Do you have security features on your site?

Security plugins/ components/ extensions are designed to protect your website from the known vulnerabilities hackers use to access your website.  They block failed access attempts, change file permissions, strengthens security etc.  You would be flabbergasted to see how many nasties are stopped trying to access the admin of your website!

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Do you have accessible backups of your website?

Can you easily restore your site from a recent backup if you make a big mistake?  Or update a plugin that conflicts with others and breaks your website?  Running regular backups of your site, that you can easily access yourself, protects you from these problems.  Your host may also claim to run regular backups but often that support ticket is not as urgent to them as it would be to you and can take a long time to restore your site.  You should have your own backup plugin/ extension that you can configure to run regular backups that you can easily access and restore if needed.

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These are just the tip of the iceberg for digital safety.  If you answered no or I don't know to any of the above questions or have any concerns about your digital safety, you should consider seeking some assistance.  We are currently offering a free 15 minute consultation to help you better protect your business.

Please let us know if you would like some help.

Great!  Please provide some details so that we can contact you. 

Please type your full name.
Please type the main contact email address.
This is the main phone number for customers to call on
Please type the websites URL.
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