Starting your enterprise in the digital sphere can be as exciting as challenging. Your startup, if it matches with the audience’s needs, can bring you success and huge profit within just a few weeks. However, it can fail overnight as well if you choose the wrong web hosting for your business. Why is it so important to choose the right provider? How does the security of your website impact your startup’s success? How can you find secure web hosting and ensure the web hosting you have chosen is reliable? Let’s find the answers!
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The Role of Secure Web Hosting
Security is one of the most important things for any tech project, especially the one dealing with online data-driven operations. Usually, emerging startups have limited budgets, and choosing the best hosting provider seems a good way to save some money. However, the benefits this decision can bring your business are much smaller than the harm it can cause.
First of all, it will negatively impact your whole business. Web hosting is a home for your startup’s website. Do you consider safety factors when looking for a home to live in? As you choose a location for a site, you should do the same. Otherwise, it can be easily hacked, and you can either lose important data or the whole website.
Besides, unreliable web hosting can harm your customers. If they leave any personal data on your website while visiting it, this information can be easily stolen and used by third parties for different purposes. It can not only destroy your startup’s reputation but also lead to legal proceedings against your company.
Laws Regulating Web Hosting
Before you start looking for a hosting provider for your site, check the list of laws to follow to make your services secure:
- CFAA criminalizes unauthorized access to computers and networks. Online platforms are obliged to ensure their infrastructure is safe and protected from such breaches.
- The Patent Act guards inventions from being reproduced or sold without their creator’s permission. For instance, if you have made a new app and registered your rights for it, you can sue anyone who releases a similar application. To draft and notarize the document proving your rights, you should hire a legal specialist. In particular, you can just ask Google to find patent lawyers near me, access a reliable legal directory, like Lawrina, and choose a professional experienced in intellectual property law.
- DMCA obliges tech startups to carefully manage and control any user-generated content on their online platforms and prevent any cases of copyright infringement. In other words, you cannot take someone’s content and post it on your site without referencing the source.
- COPPA is relevant for sites or apps designed for children under 13 or collecting information from kids of this age. This law states that to gather data from young users, a website must get permission from their parents. Otherwise, the web resource will face severe penalties.
- The CAN-SPAM Act and TCPA regulate how companies engage in email marketing and telemarketing. In particular, it obliges every business that sends electronic messages to customers to inform the latter that these emails are advertisements. Besides, recipients must have an opportunity to stop getting electronic letters from your business.
- HIPAA is important for health-tech startups. If your app or website gathers any medical information of your users, you need to ensure it is safe by applying high-level encryption.
- CCPA gives users more control over their data. It gives people the right to know what their personal information is gathered, how it is stored and used, and to forbid online platforms from using it for their business purposes. Tech startups, particularly those targeting California residents, should follow this law to maintain user trust.
For a tech specialist, understanding the legal side of web hosting is important but can be too complicated.
Key Data Security Problems Faced by Tech Startups
Emerging projects face many security issues, especially if they choose unreliable web hosting services:
- Break-ins and information theft: When a tech startup opts for a web hosting service lacking robust security, unauthorized individuals access your website or its data. They can meddle with private information, which affects your startup’s work and, possibly, its reputation.
- Viruses and malware infiltration: They can damage data and systems, extract valuable data, or even turn your website into a platform that will attack your visitors. It can lead to system crashes, data loss, and damage to your startup’s reputation.
- Information leakage: Unsecure web hosting might have weak spots that can expose sensitive data to the public or users on the web. It can compromise your business plans, intellectual property, or user data and harm your startup’s reputation.
- Phantom changes: Some web hosts have vulnerabilities that hackers may exploit to modify your website without your knowledge or consent. One day, you might find unexpected, unauthorized changes on your website, from subtle changes in content to a complete revamp. This situation can cause confusion and distrust among users, and fixing these issues can eat up your support resources.
Tips for Tech Startups to Find Secure Hosting Providers
Luckily, the market offers a variety of options for those searching for a host to locate their website. However, believing advertisements is not the best solution in such a situation. Here are a few things you need to consider to make the right choice and guard your project against numerous troubles.
First, when you choose a platform that will host your website, ask customer support specialists of each company you consider about the security features and protocols they follow. Key measures to look for include firewalls, DDoS protection, SSL certificates, malware scanning, and spam filtering. A provider that values their customer’s trust.
Also, opt for regular backups. Heavy traffic, hardware failure, or a security breach can lead to lost data. Reliable web hosts should offer automated regular backups that allow you to restore information swiftly if an emergency occurs.
As your business expands, your website’s needs grow, too. Whether it’s more storage, higher bandwidth, or additional security measures, check if your hosting provider will be able to meet your extended needs. Look for companies with 24/7 support so that you contact them as soon as a problem emerges.
Finally, remember that a web hosting provider’s reputation is a testament to its services. Look at their track record, investigate uptime stats, and read online reviews from other users. High-rated, positive feedback from other startups can also be a good sign.
Conclusion
The right choice of web hosting is a huge part of your startup’s success. It is not just a space on the internet; it’s the core of the digital security of your website and its users. Though the services of a reliable provider with a perfect reputation may cost much, a data leak or security break will cost you much more. So, choose wisely!