In today’s digital world, your website is far more than an online presence—it’s the front door to your business, brand, and reputation.
Whether you're a business owner or in IT/Cybersecurity leadership, you've likely heard the terms “entry points” or “weak points” when discussing cybersecurity risks. You may have your physical building secured, your SOC tightly monitored, and your IT infrastructure heavily regulated. Yet, time and time again, the website remains the most overlooked attack surface.
An “entry point” is any path an attacker can take to compromise your IT or cybersecurity infrastructure. And once an attacker gains a foothold—whether through your server, CMS, plugins, or misconfigurations—it’s often discovered far too late.
Your website is absolutely one of these entry points, and left unprotected, it can be the quickest route for an attacker to pivot into your broader environment.
Over the years, I’ve repeatedly encountered websites with glaring vulnerabilities: weak security standards, outdated or nulled WordPress plugins, misconfigured servers, and in many cases a site that has already been compromised without the owner’s knowledge.
Attackers don’t always strike immediately. Many quietly sit, observe, and maintain persistence. By the time you notice anything suspicious, the breach may have happened 2–5 months earlier.
Outsourcing your web hosting can certainly work—but only if the hosting provider maintains strong security standards. Unfortunately, I’ve met many web hosting companies who get uneasy the moment cybersecurity best practices are mentioned. And when I ask basic operational questions, the responses are often concerning:
- Do you scan your web servers and hosted sites? Are you compliant with frameworks like NIST, CIS Benchmarks, PCI-DSS, and SOC2?
- Are your clients with cybersecurity insurance actually insured given your hosting practices?
- Do you have documented policies and procedures for incident response? Who specializes in cybersecurity within your organization?
This isn’t meant to attack hosting companies. I run my own hosting operation solo—and that’s why I understand the importance of having a plan, maintaining policies and procedures, and continuously learning.
Configuring a firewall isn’t enough. Running updates isn’t enough. Knowing “basics” isn’t enough.
Cybersecurity is a lifelong practice, not a checklist.
A Real Example of How Easily a Website Can Be Compromised
Recently, I attended a hackathon and saw firsthand how easily ethical hackers could compromise a poorly secured setup. One attacker used a Kali Linux machine to perform a directory traversal scan on a test web server. Within seconds, they discovered and downloaded backup files stored openly in the website’s file directory—no encryption, no access controls.
The site was a fully functional WordPress installation using a popular backup plugin with over 3 million installations. From those backups, they extracted the database, decrypted stored passwords, and gained full access.
You could argue the environment was intentionally vulnerable—but the reality is many live websites are set up the exact same way.
You Can’t Eliminate Risk, But You Can Reduce It
Cybersecurity is never “finished.” Threats evolve, attack tools evolve, and vulnerabilities appear anywhere—your CMS, plugins, hosting provider, code, or third-party integrations.
While you can’t stop every threat, you can create an environment where attacks are far harder to execute—and far easier to detect.
What You Can Actually Do
1. Secure Your Website Infrastructure
Every website should have:
- Regular vulnerability scanning
- Up-to-date CMS, plugins, and themes
- Secure, hardened server configurations
- WAF protection (CloudFlare, Imunify, etc.)
- Encrypted backups stored off-server
- Penetration testing or third-party audits
- SSL/TLS enforced everywhere
2. Follow Cybersecurity Frameworks
Frameworks that improve security posture include:
- NIST
- CIS Benchmarks
- PCI-DSS (for payment handling)
- SOC2 / ISO 27001
3. Ensure Your Hosting Provider Isn’t the Weak Link
Ask your hosting provider:
- Do you patch your servers regularly?
- Do you run malware scans on customer files?
- Do you isolate hosting accounts?
- Do you have IDS/IPS?
- Do you monitor logs?
If they can’t answer these confidently, your business is at risk.
4. Monitor Everything
You should track:
- Access logs
- Error logs
- Login notifications
- File-change detection
- SIEM tools (for mid/large environments)
5. Train Yourself and Your Team
Cybersecurity is continuous. Stay updated by:
- Taking courses
- Following threat intelligence
- Reviewing CVEs
- Practicing with security tools
- Testing your own systems
6. Assume Breach — and Prepare for It
Ask yourself:
- If someone breached my website today, how fast would I know?
- Would I have backups?
- Could I restore quickly?
- Do I have an incident response plan?
- Would I know what was stolen or changed?
Final Thoughts
Your website is not “just a website.” It's a potential entry point into your entire digital environment.
The attacker only needs one weakness. You need to secure them all.
With the right practices, frameworks, vigilance, and mindset, you can drastically reduce risk and protect your business long-term.
Cybersecurity isn’t about eliminating threats—it’s about making yourself a harder target.
