The importance of website backups and security monitoring

With so much relying on digital presence, it's vital for your site to be readily available for both new and existing clients. Imagine finding out that your website has been hacked or has suffered from a server issue. If your website serves as your storefront or you operate an e-commerce business, this could utterly devastate your company, obliterating your site and its data, and erasing months of valuable content in the process.Without effective security monitoring and a reliable backup source, this scenario could become a reality, resulting in data loss, financial setbacks, and damage to your business.

This article looks at the importance of regular website backups, explores the potential risks of neglecting this essential practice, and highlights the peace of mind that comes with knowing your data is secure.

What is a website backup?

A website backup is a copy of your site's files and data at a point in time. This is usually stored in a secure location separate from your site. A backup typically includes a site's files, databases, content, and media. If your site is down and cannot be brought back online, due to human error, data loss, or malicious attacks, a backup can help recover your site with minimal disruption.

What could I lose in the event of a site failure?

If a website is not regularly backed up, it faces the risk of losing critical data due to various types of cyberattacks or system failures. Ransomware attacks can lock you out of your infrastructure, making essential website files, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript code, inaccessible. These files are fundamental to your site's structure and functionality.

SQL injection attacks can compromise databases, leading to the loss of valuable information like user accounts, customer orders, and content management system (CMS) data. This can cause operational disruptions and potential revenue loss.

Phishing attacks may result in unauthorised access to media files, including images, videos, and documents, which could become irretrievable, impacting your site's visual appeal and user experience.

Additionally, malware attacks can corrupt or erase SEO configurations and metadata, significantly affecting search engine rankings and diminishing online visibility and traffic.

Overall, without regular backups, your digital assets are at risk of complete loss, resulting in costly and time-consuming recovery efforts.

How can I back up my site?

There are various methods to back up your site, these are the most common:

Hosting provider backups

Web hosting providers usually provide automated backup with several options. These options can include how often your site is backed up, what parts of the site are backed up, and where the backups are stored. Check with your hosting provider for more information.

Third-party backup software

Third-party software can also be used to backup your site. For example, WordPress sites can use plugins such as UpdraftPlus, which provide a simple and effective way to manage the structure and frequency of your backups, as well as providing a simple way of restoring your site.

Manual backups

This option involves manually downloading your site's files and a copy of the database. This method has several disadvantages to consider:

• Storage: Do you have somewhere secure to store your backups? Storing your site data securely is crucial, most backup utilities take care of this automatically.

• Frequency: Can you remember to back up your site regularly? Automated backups mean you don’t have to worry about this. In the event of having to restore your site, it’s better to have a recent backup to avoid data loss. If you’ve recently added great content to your site, you don’t want to lose it due to having to restore from an old backup.

• Restoration: If your site suffers a critical failure and needs to be restored, do you know how/where to restore the site files you have manually downloaded? If your database needs to be repopulated, do you know how to do this? Backing up using one of the previous methods mentioned simplifies getting your site back online without having to worry about these issues.

We would recommend using an automated backup method such as with your hosting provider or using dedicated backup software such as UpdraftPlus or similar. They provide a way to backup and restore your site while providing an array of options such as frequency, content, and storage to suit your backup needs.

Where should I store my site backups?

When saving a website backup, it is crucial to choose a secure and reliable storage solution to ensure data integrity, accessibility, and confidentiality. To safeguard your data from unauthorised access, always encrypt your backups before storage. Storing encrypted backups in multiple locations further mitigates the risk of data loss. Implementing a regular backup schedule and using automated backup tools can enhance data safety, ensuring that your website can be quickly and securely restored in the event of a failure or cyberattack.

Backups are better with website security monitoring

A backup is useful to restore your site in the event of your site being targeted by cybercriminals, but what if you could use security monitoring tools to prevent your site from being taken offline in the first place? A common reason for sites being offline is due to hackers targeting the site. These malicious attacks aim to find and exploit vulnerabilities, disrupt operations, or steal sensitive data. Moreover, if backups are taken of the exploited version of your site, hackers can regain control repeatedly, making it crucial to have effective monitoring in place. Ensuring the safety of your site is a necessity; vigilant security monitoring can help to avoid data breaches, financial loss, and a dent in your company's reputation. Here we look at some of the monitoring tools we recommend to help keep your business online.

Cloudflare: Cloudflare is a cloud service that helps improve the security and performance of websites. Cloudflare offers protection against various online threats, such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, by acting as a shield between the website's server and potential attackers. It also provides tools for optimising website performance and ensuring secure connections.

Wordfence: Over 40% of websites are made with WordPress, making it a regular target for hackers. If your site is built with WordPress, then Wordfence is a must-have security tool. This plugin adds a firewall around your site, protecting it from malicious attacks. It has a scanning tool to check your site for vulnerabilities and offers many other features such as login protection and IP address blocklists.

While having backups is essential for restoring your site after an attack, preventing such incidents is just as critical. By leveraging security solutions like Cloudflare for protection and Wordfence for monitoring, you can significantly enhance your website's defenses against cyber threats. Cloudflare acts as a robust shield against online attacks and optimises site performance, while Wordfence provides comprehensive security for WordPress sites, protecting them from vulnerabilities and unauthorised access. Monitoring the security of your site is a proactive step towards maintaining the integrity and reliability of your online presence.

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Have a question about backups or security monitoring, or not sure if your site is being backed up? Get in touch!