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10 questions you should ask your hosting provider

hostingproviderChances are very good that your business has a website, and it’s probably hosted by a third party. According to an unscientific poll conducted by our security expert James Lyne at Forbes.com, only 19% of businesses host their website on-premise.

According to data from SophosLabs, 80% of dangerous websites are actually legitimate sites that have been compromised by criminal hackers. And 30,000 websites are hacked each day. Those are dangerous odds. So, how do you make sure your website is hosted securely? We have a list of 10 questions you should be asking your hosting provider.

1. What is your security policy? 
Some providers only offer server space and a connection and leave security up to you. Others offer continuous traffic monitoring, daily malware scans and protection such as denial-of-service mitigation. Make sure you know which type of provider you’re using.

2. How do you handle security breaches?
In the event of a security breach of your website, the safety of your visitors depends on how and how quickly the provider notifies you. And you need to be sure you can reach the provider if you notice a breach before they do.

3. What is the platform under my application?
It’s important to know what server platform your CMS application will be installed on and how it is secured.

4. Do you offer SSL (HTTPS)?
If your site requires usernames and passwords, such as for e-commerce or for blogs, it’s vital that those communications are secured from eavesdroppers using HTTPS.

5. Do you back up?
Knowing whether and how your data is backed up, and how long it will take to restore, allows you to understand the impact of a compromise of your website.

5 more questions

You can’t afford to ignore security when choosing a provider for hosting your website or applications. You need to know how your provider handles security. Get five more questions you should ask your hosting provider in our whitepaper Choosing a Hosting Provider. No registration required.

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