Website Hosting and Cyber Security
What is Website Hosting?
A website host is a company that provides the technology required for a website to appear on the internet. In order to be on the web, a website needs space on a web server - this is where the website and all of its components, such as code and images, are stored. All websites are hosted on a server, but not all website hosts are equal. Speed, security and availability are all factors you should consider when choosing a company to host your website.
What is Cyber Security?
Cyber security is an important part of website hosting, and it's how websites are protected from threats such as cyber attacks. Cyber security is put in place through the use of different technology, processes and best practices to ensure that the website, the data stored on it and anyone using it are all secure. A website with poor cyber security is at risk of unauthorised access, which could result in data being stolen or misused, or the website itself being damaged or made unusable. Cyber security is an important issue for any business with a website.
Why is Cyber Security So Important?
At SilverDisc, we take cyber security extremely seriously because it affects your entire digital marketing system. Here are a few reasons why you should take it seriously, too:
Cyber Security Affects User Experience and Digital Marketing
A hacked website is a poor website, and this leads to unhappy customers - or even no customers at all. Your entire digital marketing system relies on your website being fast, secure and reliable - all of which can be compromised if you don’t have good cyber security in place. A slow, unreliable website makes for a poor user experience. If you’ve spent money on paid advertising, or put precious time into SEO, social media or email marketing, this could all go to waste if the website your users arrive at is not secure. Customers also look for signs that any transaction they complete on your website will be protected by your website security, and if you don’t have good cyber security in place, this could mean you’re losing out on potential conversions.
Cyber Security Protects Your Advertising Budgets
Similarly, if your website is hacked, it’s important that you’re able to stop your paid advertising quickly so that you’re not sending customers to a website that is down, not working properly, or unsafe to view. If your paid advertising is still running after your website has been hacked, this could lead to a huge loss in terms of advertising budgets. That’s why security alerts are an important part of cyber security - if something were to go wrong, you need to know about it straight away to avoid wasting advertising money.
Cyber Security Protects Your Brand
You’ve likely seen reports on the news over the years of big companies being the target of hackers. This can result in data breaches, which lead to bad press, a damaged brand, and customers losing trust in the business. Cyber security can help you to avoid this.
Cyber Security is Essential for GDPR
Speaking of data breaches, cyber security can help you to remain GDPR compliant and keep your data safe. Many customers are well-informed about what they should expect from businesses handling their data, and one way to earn customer trust is to keep their information as secure as possible, with the help of robust cyber security.
What are the Benefits of SilverDisc Website Hosting?
We are experts in website hosting and cyber security. Here are the benefits of hosting your website with SilverDisc:
SilverDisc 24-Hour Monitoring System
While the SilverDisc head office is in Kettering, Northamptonshire, we also have a full-time systems administrator based in Chile. The time difference means that our websites are monitored for more than the standard 9am - 5pm working day.
We also have excellent monitoring systems for out of hours, which means we receive text and email alerts if any issues arrive, and we can deal with them very quickly.
SilverDisc is Dedicated to Cyber Security
SilverDisc is the only digital marketing agency involved with the Northamptonshire Cyber Security Forum. This initiative was set up in 2017 to help local businesses protect themselves against cyber security, and the monthly meetings are attended by local IT directors, managers and specialists sharing best practices, police briefings and government advice.
SilverDisc Offers Flexible Server Options
We work on shared servers, but we can also set up a dedicated server at an additional cost if your business requires it.
What is Included In Your SilverDisc Website Hosting Package?
SilverDisc website hosting provides excellent value for money, with our unrivalled support, monitoring and security ensuring your website is always running at its best. Read on to find out what our hosting, monitoring, maintenance and security service includes.
SilverDisc gives you the disk space and bandwidth needed to run your website
We have dedicated servers with the capacity to provide the space and bandwidth that your website needs.
SilverDisc backs up your website
We back up your website every day and keep the data for five days. In the event of data loss through cyber attack, we can recover it within four working hours.
SilverDisc monitors your website 24/7
We monitor your website availability 24/7 from at least two other locations in the world. If your website crashes, we know, and we get your site back up and running as soon as possible.
SilverDisc provides a security firewall for your website
We provide a ‘firewall’ at the server level to prevent unauthorised access to your website.
SilverDisc guards your website against cyber attack
We monitor and respond to any attack (e.g. denial of service attack) on the server and liaise with the hosting firm to repel the attack.
SilverDisc manages the ‘Contact Us’ form on your website
We manage the ‘Contact Us’ forms on your website including forwarding contacts and filtering out spam.
SilverDisc upgrades your server software
We ensure your software is kept up to date, including web server, database engine, operating system and security packages.
SilverDisc meets GDPR obligations
We ensure that any personal data requests are complied with.
SilverDisc maintains your SSL certificate
We monitor the expiry date of your website’s SSL certificate and install a new one at the appropriate time.
SilverDisc implements changes to your users and logins
We undertake any user management changes including logins, usernames and passwords as needed.
Does SilverDisc Host Websites Not Built By SilverDisc?
We are a digital marketing and web development company rather than a hosting company and as such, we do not host websites that we haven't built ourselves. This is because most of our servers are shared between several clients. If we hosted a third-party website, the client may require admin access to the server, and it would not be possible for us to provide this access if a server hosts several other websites. Third-party websites also may not be completely secure and could pose a security risk to the server and the other websites hosted on it. Therefore for everyone's security, we don't host websites that weren't built by SilverDisc.
As part of our website build projects, SilverDisc can provide a comprehensive hosting and website security package to suit your requirements and support your digital marketing system. Ready to get started? Get in touch to talk about your website development and hosting needs.