Top 3 Shared Hosting Risks and How to Take Preventive Actions

People who are just starting their own business or blog prefer to go for shared hosting to ensure their limited needs are met at a budget-friendly price without any excess resources going to waste. While there are certain aspects in which shared hosting lacks. The majority of needs that startups and small businesses have met easily.

While shared hosting has its own security features, for the most part. It does have many aspects that leave it vulnerable to falling victim to malicious attacks. Shared hosting has enough benefits that make up for its slight drawbacks.

Let’s take a look at all the potential security threats that you have to look out for and how to combat them.

What risks can shared hosting fall victim to?

  • Shared directory

All WordPress websites have storage space that holds the entirety of their database. It comes under a folder that saved under a web server. Unfortunately, data of multiple accounts are saved in the same place in shared hosting. While your website is afforded its individual content and domain. It still connected to all the accounts on the server. 

In case a malicious attacker gains access to one account. They will automatically be able to attack all the accounts on the server. All hackers have to do is identify any vulnerabilities in one account and thereby gain access to them all.

All the accounts are therefore incredibly vulnerable to falling victim to a malicious attack if they share the same server. Plus any small vulnerability in any account could lead to the downfall of them all.

  • Solution:

You can easily prevent this problem by conducting due diligence. And extensive research before you select your web hosting service by ensuring that it has a stellar reputation and satisfactory reviews on all counts. Reputable web hosting services will be careful about the business they host on a shared hosting server along with yours.

They also well-versed in a higher level of security measures to be enforced to keep your website safe from viruses and malware as well.

Selecting a well-established web hosting service will ensure that you are not targeted by hackers and viruses that could pose a serious danger to all the progress that you have made. You can check all the reviews that are online to get a fair idea about what you can expect as well. 

  • Slow website loading

Your website can be affected rather severely if your website takes a long time to load. It can have detrimental consequences on your performance and lead to eventual downtime. This can be a result of a different account on your shared server being successfully attacked by hackers.

After worming their way into a website, hackers can easily use their access to completely alter your website, harass your clients with spam folders, and eventually cause irreparable damage to all the websites that are a part of the shared server.

Being hacked could end up monopolizing the resources which could lead to other websites becoming slow or experiencing downtime.

  • Solution

If you notice your website growing slower as time passes by, the culprit might also be your increasing needs and falling short on resources. However, an attack can be identified if your website slows down without warning. 

You can keep this in check by conducting regular checks for suspicious activity and adopting antivirus tools. You should also think twice before allowing dodgy characters access to your database. Shared hosting should also be done with a reputable web hosting provider as mentioned above.

  • DDoS attacks

DDoS stands for distributed denial of services which basically entails an attacker aiming a whole lot of traffic towards a server in order for it to experience downtime. One more result of a DDoS attack is the website being slowed down to such a huge extent.

That it cannot offer a satisfactory user experience, thereby alienating customers and having a detrimental effect on revenue.

It will taint the reputation of your brand and business in the market as well. This can be a group effort by a number of hackers to send a lot of illegitimate traffic your way and harm the functioning of your website.

  • Solution

This attack is on such a vast scale that it cannot be resolved by a single person or website. The prevention of such an attack from being successful. And resolving it rests on the shoulders of the web hosting provider, as much as it does on the website owners’.

It is crucial that the web hosting company you choose implements advanced security measures that monitor your system and prevent such attacks from happening in the first place.

Conclusion

While shared hosting comes with its own set of limitations and drawbacks, there are several measures. That can be taken to ensure the safety of all of the accounts that are hosted on it. By employing the measures mentioned above, you can keep your website safe and offer the best user experience to help your website grow and flourish. 

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