Website Development Tip: Eliminating Unnecessary Features Can Improve Security

Cyber security is a critical challenge businesses struggle with when building their websites. Website security flaws can wind up exposing businesses and their customers to criminal activities.

Sometimes, these unauthorized activities don’t involve any obvious theft or exposure of sensitive information. A recent article from Tech Crunch points out how some hackers exploit weaknesses in website code and use spam comments to underhandedly improve their own sites’ SEO. They quietly introduce bits of code to your site that might weaken your search engine rankings but improve theirs.

Unfortunately, there isn’t any one way of completely preventing these devious activities. However, there are ways to minimize the chances of getting attacked or exploited.

Getting rid of what isn’t necessary on your site

Your approach to website development will ideally minimize unnecessary code on your site. The greater number of unnecessary features you add to your site, the greater the chance that hackers will find some bit of code to exploit to their advantage.

For example, these days fewer websites are relying on Flash. There are alternatives for displaying videos and other media on your site; for instance, you can upload a video to YouTube and embed it in one of your landing pages or blog posts. Even though Adobe regularly releases security patches for Flash, the vulnerabilities may not always get detected in a timely way.

Another example involves the third-party plugins you introduce to your site. For instance, if WordPress.org is your Content Management System, you’ll have access to a huge variety of plugins for a range of purposes, including improving SEO, increasing social media shares, and blocking spam. Choose reputable plugins and only go for the ones you need. Keep the number to a minimum and avoid plugins that don’t contribute meaningfully to your site and its functionality.

For further advice on strengthening cyber security as you build and update your website, don’t hesitate to contact us. Cutting down on unnecessary code is one way to make your site less vulnerable to cyber attacks.