Website security – is your site up to speed?

We sometimes need reminding that the internet is not always as secure as we’d like, as we have recently seen with the ‘Shellshock’ virus, given 10/10 for severity by the U.S. National Cyber Security Division. While many of us have no real idea about how to protect ourselves from this type of cyber-terrorism we can find support in the proactivity of organisations such as Google when it comes to security on the internet.

Late last year Google announced that they would be striving to encourage Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Security certification on all websites for ranking purposes (i.e. those with the certification would enjoy higher organic search engine rankings as a result). Certified websites have ‘https’ at the beginning of the URL, as opposed to just ‘http’. In short, certified sites, i.e. those that begin with ‘https’ will appear higher up in Google Search results, while those without an SSL certificate will start to drop down (and will continue to lose ranking position over time), as part of a larger campaign to make the internet safer. Google is also proposing to actively warn internet users that their data is at risk every time they visit websites without SSL certification. This could see sites without SSL certification becoming unfavourable very quickly.

To protect your website, and its hard won ranking for keywords specific to your business, our recommendation is that you consider acquiring SSL certification. To do this you will need to purchase an annually recurring certificate from a verified provider. For a basic level certificate, the cost is typically between £30-50 a year.

We are recommending the purchase of this certification to all of our clients as without it you may find that your site performance declines significantly over time. To discuss the protection of your website please call us on 01428 722990 or email Zoe at zoe@mzuridesign.co.uk

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30505970