Blogging allows children to express their thoughts and feelings publicly, but it can also expose them to risks. Parents need to ensure that their students understand blogging safety and have the appropriate digital boundaries in place.
Legally, bloggers need to take measures that protect them from threats and misunderstandings the same way as a store in a mall is required to keep its customers safe. Here are some tips to help make your blog safer:
Secure Your Site
It’s not just a matter of when your site will be attacked, but more a question of how — and by whom. There are a number of things you can do to help ensure the security of your blog, including changing default CMS settings, filtering comments by recent activity and removing inactive users. It’s also a good idea to run regular backups so that in the event of an attack, you have a fresh copy of your site that you can relaunch quickly.
Aranza Trevino is a SEO Content Specialist at Keeper Security, and she writes blogs to educate readers about online safety trends and how to stay protected against cyber attacks. You can read more of her work on her website. Keeper Security offers a wide range of cybersecurity products, including password managers, two-factor authentication and file encryption.
Change Your Password Regularly
Blog security is something many bloggers forget about, leave on the back burner or put on a to-do list to tackle one day. Taking the time to beef up blog security is an investment in both your own and your readers’ safety. Not only does it protect your users’ information and privacy, but it also helps to bolster reader trust, a vital part of any successful blog.
If you aren’t limiting the number of login attempts or using a password generator, you’re at risk of a brute force attack on your site. By limiting the number of attempts that can be made at logging in, you can prevent hackers from finding your password by trying countless combinations. Changing your password regularly can help too, although make sure you choose a new, unrelated password and don’t reuse the old one elsewhere.
Whether it’s a plugin or an old/free/unsupported theme, out-of-date software can leave your blog open to attacks. Keep your software, plugins and themes up to date as updates often include security patches that can help protect against vulnerabilities. If you aren’t able to update your software, consider upgrading to an SSL certificate for an extra layer of protection. This ensures your website visitors see a padlock symbol next to the address bar, so they can be confident that the site they are visiting is secure.
Enable Two-Factor Authentication
While many bloggers may not understand the importance of protecting their privacy and safety online, it is one of the most important aspects of blogging. Without it, your blog could be hacked and used for malicious purposes such as identity theft and credit card fraud. In addition, you could be at risk of losing years worth of work if you are not backing up your blog content regularly.
While hacking is a common risk for bloggers, there are preventative steps that can be taken to protect against it. These include implementing password management tools, using unbreakable passwords, and enabling two-factor authentication (2FA). 2FA requires more than just your password to access an account, such as a code sent to your phone or biometrics like your face or fingerprint.
A VPN is another great tool for blog security as it encrypts data packets from your computer to the server, making it nearly impossible for hackers to intercept them. Additionally, a web application firewall (WAF) can help protect your website from attacks and vulnerabilities at an app and site level by blocking suspicious login attempts and identifying potential threats. Another essential step for blog security is enabling HTTPS on your site, which encrypts communication between a user and a website and can improve search engine rankings. It’s also a good idea to make sure your operating system software and plugins are updated as they often contain security patches.
Enable HTTPS
If you use Blogger and want to make it possible for your blog site to use HTTPS, you can do this from the Blogger dashboard. It may take a few days for Google to reindex your site and update the search results, but it is a good idea to do this to ensure that all links to your website are secure.
Cyber attacks are becoming increasingly common, and bloggers are a target because they often have large followings and extensive databases of personal information. There are several things you can do to make sure that your blog is safe from cyber attacks. First, back up your content regularly. This will help you recover in the event of a data breach or other attack. Second, install a firewall and anti-malware software. These programs will protect your blog from viruses and other malware, and will also notify you of any threats.
Finally, it is important to keep all of your software up to date. This includes the operating system and any plugins that you use. Outdated or unverified software can be a huge risk to your blog’s security. Updates often include security patches that will help to prevent cyber attacks. In addition, it is a good idea to use a secure hosting provider that offers a variety of features, such as two-factor authentication and SSL certificates.
