Keeping Your Web Site Secure

When you maintain a Web site, you are responsible for the security of the site's content and any information you collect about the site or site visitors. Your Web site may be vulnerable to attacks or accidents. Malicious hackers, computer viruses, or accidents can bring down your Web site, destroy files, replace Web pages with offensive ones, or fraudulently send e-mail from your domain name. A Web site with weak security practices can also be a pathway for a hacker or virus to attack the server on which the Web site resides.

Although the burden for the physical and technical security of the Web server lies with the server's owner, you can also take steps to protect your Web site. Basic precautions include guarding the passwords that you use to access the administrator tools of the Web site. You can protect your password by not sharing it with friends or colleagues, hiding any notes with the password, and using challenging passwords instead of obvious ones like your child's name or your log-in name. Upload only files that you have checked for viruses. Keep back-up copies of your Web files.

The standards for Web site security vary depending on your project. Projects that collect users' personal information such as names, addresses, and telephone numbers must have a higher standard of security than a simple site that only has a few pages about a project's work. If your project owns or maintains its own Web server, it has the additional responsibility of protecting the entire server, both the physical machine and its data. Your Digital Ventures team member can help you decide on the security needs for your project's Web site.

University of Washington (UW) Computing and Communications offers some information about computer security for the UW computer network. If your Web site is not part of the UW network, you will need to consult your service provider about its security issues and practices. Be sure to include information about your site's security measures in your privacy policy.

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