Cyber security his one of the most talked about areas of software development today with regular news reports of companies being hacked and customer data being stolen. As the cyber threat landscape continues to grow in complexity, it's important for website owners to prioritise cyber resilience and to implement appropriate security measures to ensure that business and customer data is protected, and that important digital channels remain safe and operational.

As the world commerce and business critical systems continue to move more online, cybercrime is increasingly profitable for cybercriminals, who are constantly devising new methods to exploit vulnerabilities and compromise websites and web applications. Common threats include:

• Malware: Malicious software designed to infiltrate and damage websites, steal data, or hijack user information.
• SQL Injection: Attackers exploit vulnerabilities in web applications to gain unauthorized access to databases, potentially exposing sensitive data.
• Cross-Site Scripting (XSS): This attack injects malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users, leading to potential data theft or manipulation.
• Brute Force Attacks: Cybercriminals repeatedly try to guess passwords until they gain access to a site, a method that is particularly effective when weak passwords are in use.
• Phishing: Deceptive emails or websites that trick users into revealing personal information or login credentials.

The evolving nature of these threats necessitates the deployment and management of security measures to safeguard your digital assets.

Content management systems – or CMS’s – make it easy for non-technical users to keep their website up to date without having to know how to write code. Umbraco is one of the most popular content management systems, used by over 750k websites around the world. It's an open-source platform with a strong developer community, which means continuous improvements and support for its users. While Umbraco offers a range of features that make it a solid choice for website management in general, its security features are particularly compelling. Let’s have a look at some of the ways that Umbraco makes it easy to ensure that your web site and data remains safe from malicious actors.

• Umbraco’s development team takes a proactive approach to finding and addressing security vulnerabilities in the platform. Regular 3rd party penetration tests help to locate problems, which are then addressed with the release of updates and patches.
• Password security and controls are state-of-the-art. Logins are implemented on ASP.NET core identity, which provides a long list of out-of-the-box security benefits, and you can choose your own password rules for extra safety if you wish.
• 2FA is available for both back office and for your customers (if your website has login functionality.)
• Umbraco encourages the implementation of strong password policies for user accounts – a simple yet effective measure to protect against brute force attacks.
• Umbraco provides full support for HTTPS – including the ability to have multiple certificates for multi-tenancy applications. HTTPS encrypts data for transmission between users and the server which helps to safeguard user data.
• Umbraco makes it easy to manage data backups and restoration, which is a key element of a robust disaster recovery (DR) plan – allowing you to recover in case of a cyber breach.
• Umbraco allows integration with various third-party packages and plugins, however, to maintain security, the Umbraco community vets these packages, reducing the risk of introducing vulnerabilities into your website.
• Finally, Umbraco offers comprehensive security documentation which empowers users and developers with the knowledge needed to secure their websites effectively.

This is not a comprehensive list, but it should give you an indication of the seriousness with which Umbraco takes web site security. If you are looking to take your cyber position to the next level, the Umbraco marketplace also offers a wide range of security-focused plugins and with features such as intrusion detection and firewall protection.

“The cyber threat landscape today is rapidly evolving. For website owners and developers, taking a considered and proactive approach web site security can mean the difference between business-as-usual, and a potentially serious cyber incident.”

In the crowded marketplace of web site platforms, Umbraco CMS stands out as a leader in security. A commitment to regular updates, user-friendly security features, and a vigilant developer community make it an excellent choice for those seeking a robust and secure content management system.