How to Secure Web server ?
What is Web server
A web server can be either a software unit or a hardware unit, which provides the web pages via HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) and other protocols to respond to client requests made over the World Wide Web. Web server is a computer where the web content is stored. Basically web server is used to host the web sites but there exists other web servers also such as gaming, storage, FTP, email etc.
Web server hardware is connected to the internet and allows data to be exchanged with other connected devices, while web server software controls how a user accesses hosted files. Web servers are used in web hosting, or the hosting of data for websites and web-based applications — or web applications.
How does working web server :
Users can access web servers through the URL or domain names of the websites that the server can communicate with. The software components do all of the processing and translation needed. It uses one of its scripting languages—such as PHP, Python, Ruby, or Java—to request a web page.
Web server software is accessed through the domain names of websites and ensures the delivery of the site’s content to the requesting user. The software side is also comprised of several components, with at least an HTTP server. A hardware , a web server is a computer that stores web server software and other files related to a website, such as HTML file , JavaScript and images.
Types of web servers are available
There are some of the most popular options for web server software include are:
1. Apache
2. Lighttpd
3. Naginx
Apache : Apache is open-source. It is a most popular web server in the world. It supports Linux, Unix, Windows, Mac OS X, Ubuntu, and other operating systems.
Lighttpd : Lighttpd is its small CPU load and speed optimization.Lighttpd is designed to manage a large number of parallel connections and can support features such as Output-compression, FastCGI, Auth, SCGI and URL-rewriting among other things.
3.Naginx : Nginx is another open-source solution. It also known for high performance, stability, low resource usage, and highly scalable event-driven architecture.
How to Secure Web server
There are various ways are to secure of web server they are following are :
Install Firewall : Software-based firewalls are easy to up and manage and will protect your web server from unauthorized communication and instructions. A firewall ay be taking care of your network’s borders, keeping the bad guys out and the good guys in, but for sure it is leaving a door wide open for attackers to break in your web application server.
Scan for web-specific vulnerabilities :Network scanners cannot detect Application-specific vulnerabilities. To detect and eliminate these vulnerabilities, you have to put the applications under a series of tests and audits, such as penetration tests, black box scanning, and source code auditing. None of these methods is bulletproof, though. Ideally, you should perform as many of them as possible to eliminate all vulnerabilities.
Strong Passwords : A security hardened server is a challenge for criminals, but you would be surprised how many server administrators leave the front door wide open. People—including those who should know better—tend to choose easily guessed passwords.
Backup Regularly: The main reason we secure a server is to keep the data stored on it safe. It’s impossible to guarantee that a server will never be compromised, so data should be encrypted and backed-up to a offsite location. Every day testing of recovery from comprehensive backups will neuter ransomware attacks.
Keep patches up to date : As mentioned earlier in this article, failure to keep software up to date with the latest patches can allow cybercriminals to reverse-engineer pathways into your network.