Resources · Security & Reliability

Security Basics for Site Owners (Without Becoming a Security Engineer)

Last Updated: December 13, 2025

You shouldn’t have to become a full-time security engineer just to keep your website reasonably safe.

At the same time, “we’ll deal with it if we get hacked” is a dangerous strategy when your site touches:

• Customer data
• Lead forms
• Payment pages (even if handled by third parties)
• Your brand reputation

This article covers practical security basics for site owners. You can use it as a checklist with your internal team or with a partner like Alison Prime.

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1. Start with Access, Not Firewalls

Many people jump straight to firewalls and malware scanners. Those matter, but access is where real damage usually starts.

1.1 Know Who Has Access to What

For each of these, list who has admin access:

• Domain registrar
• DNS provider
• Hosting / cloud provider
• CMS or site admin area
• Payment provider dashboards
• Email service provider (for transactional or marketing email)

Ask:

• Are there any shared “admin” accounts everyone uses?
• Are there old staff, contractors, or agencies who still have access?

Action steps:

• Replace shared accounts with named users whenever possible.
• Remove access for anyone who no longer needs it.
• Make sure your main ownership email addresses are ones you control long-term (not an individual’s personal inbox).

1.2 Use Strong Authentication

At minimum:

• Use a password manager for all admin credentials.
• Turn on multi-factor authentication (MFA) for:
  • Domain registrar
  • Hosting
  • Payment gateways
  • Email providers
  • CMS admin (if supported)

This one change dramatically raises the bar for attackers.

2. Keep Software Updated (With a Safe Process)

Out-of-date software is one of the most common attack paths.

2.1 What Needs Updating?

• CMS core (WordPress, Shopify apps, custom frameworks, etc.)
• Plugins, themes, and modules
• Server software (if you manage your own stack)
• Installed apps or integrations

2.2 Have an Update Process (Not Just “Click Everything”)

A basic process looks like:

1. Backups confirmed (see next section).
2. Apply updates on a staging or test environment first.
3. Run a quick test:
   • Homepage
   • Key forms
   • Login areas
   • Checkout (if applicable)
4. Then apply the same updates to production during low-traffic hours.

If you’re not using a staging environment yet, at least:

• Keep a recent backup before major updates.
• Test critical user flows right after updating.

3. Backups and Restore Plan

Security is not just about preventing incidents—it’s about recovering quickly when something goes wrong.

3.1 Backup Essentials

For a typical business site, you should have:

• Automated backups of:
  • Database
  • Application files (code, plugins, themes)
  • Uploads/media
• Backups stored off-server (not just on the same machine).
• A retention period long enough to catch slow-burning issues (for example, 14–30 days).

3.2 Test Restores

A backup that has never been restored is a theory, not a safety net.

At least quarterly:

• Restore a backup to staging or a test environment.
• Confirm that:
  • The site loads
  • Logins work
  • Core functions are intact

This gives you confidence that, in an incident, you can move quickly.

4. Basic Hardening and Hygiene

You don’t have to implement every enterprise-grade control, but some simple steps go a long way.

4.1 Reduce Attack Surface

• Remove:
  • Unused plugins and themes (don’t just deactivate forever).
  • Old test environments that are still publicly accessible.
• Disable or lock down:
  • Default admin URLs, if your platform allows (or at least protect them via rate limiting and MFA).
  • Unused services or ports on your server.

4.2 Use HTTPS Everywhere

• Ensure all public pages use HTTPS.
• Redirect HTTP to HTTPS.
• Renew certificates before they expire (or use automated renewal).

Browsers warn users when a site is not secure. That’s a security risk and a conversion killer.

4.3 Minimal Data Retention

• Don’t keep sensitive data you don’t need.
• Clear out:
  • Old form submissions holding personal data you no longer need.
  • Exported CSVs sitting in random inboxes or shared drives.

Less stored data = less impact if something goes wrong.

5. Security Monitoring and Alerts

You can’t fix what you don’t see.

5.1 Uptime and Basic Monitoring

At minimum:

• Use an uptime monitoring service to alert you if your site goes down.
• Review error logs occasionally (or have a partner do it).

5.2 Security Scanners and Firewalls

Depending on your stack, this may include:

• Web application firewall (WAF) rules
• Security plugins or services that:
  • Monitor file changes
  • Block repeated login attempts
  • Flag known vulnerabilities

Set expectations:

• No scanner is perfect.
• They are early warning systems, not magic shields.

6. Third-Party Services and Integrations

Your site is only as strong as the services around it.

6.1 Vetting Vendors

When you add a new integration (chat widget, analytics, payment tool), check:

• Do they support HTTPS everywhere?
• Do they offer MFA for their admin dashboard?
• Do they have a basic security or privacy page explaining their practices?

You don’t need a full audit for every tool, but you should avoid clearly careless ones.

6.2 API Keys and Webhooks

• Store API keys securely (password manager, secrets manager).
• Avoid pasting keys into shared docs or unencrypted notes.
• Rotate keys if:
  • A developer or agency leaves.
  • You suspect they’ve been exposed.

7. People and Process (Where Most Security Actually Lives)

Security is not just technology—it’s people.

7.1 Onboarding and Offboarding

Have a repeatable process for:

• New staff:
  • Which tools they get access to
  • How access is granted (and logged)
• Departing staff/contractors:
  • Which access must be removed
  • When passwords or tokens should be rotated

7.2 Simple Internal Rules

Examples:

• “Admin-level credentials are never shared over email or chat in plain text.”
• “Changes to DNS or payment settings require at least one other person to be informed.”
• “We do not install plugins or apps on production without at least a basic review.”

These small rules prevent many “oops” incidents.

8. When to Call in Extra Help

You don’t need a security consultant for every decision, but some situations justify external help:

• You handle high-value transactions or sensitive data.
• You’ve had a serious incident in the past.
• You’re integrating with systems that have compliance requirements (finance, healthcare, government, etc.).
• You’re about to make a big architectural change (new platform, new integration, multi-region setup).

A short security review before major changes is almost always cheaper than incident response afterwards.

9. Turning This Into a Practical Security Checklist

You can use this article as a simple security checklist:

1. Access & Authentication
   • Review admin access and clean it up.
   • Enable MFA on key services.
2. Updates & Backups
   • Put a basic update process in place.
   • Confirm you have real, tested backups.
3. Hardening
   • Remove unused components and test environments.
   • Enforce HTTPS everywhere.
4. Monitoring
   • Set up uptime alerts.
   • Add at least basic logging or security scanning.
5. People & Process
   • Define how access is granted and removed.
   • Write 1–2 simple internal security rules.

You don’t have to do everything at once. Pick one area per month and improve it.

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If you’d like Alison Prime to run a structured security and reliability review on your site, we can assess your current setup, highlight the biggest risks, and give you a prioritized action plan that fits your team and budget.