Security can be integrated effectively if we remove the plugin from our website (especially if it is hosted on Python shared hosting): Do you also have this misconception? While they are effective, plugins alone don’t maintain the overall security of your website.
When a website isn’t pulling in traffic because it is either down for maintenance, suffering from intermittent server issues, or has just been updated, website security tends to fall off. Although a website appears to be offline, that doesn’t mean that it is completely out of sight.
Firewalls actually keep working on behalf of the owner to protect the website and the server from malicious activity, even when the front-end is taken offline. In this blog, we will discuss how a firewall protects your Indian AI website builder–designed website even when it is offline.
Offline Does Not Mean Disconnected from the Internet
When a website is down or offline, it means that all of the web pages aren’t being served up to any customers at that particular time. Most likely, the server is still online and connected to the internet via an open port and an active IP address.
Attackers don’t need to load a default home page to launch attacks against an owner’s server. Daily, thousands of botnet programs crawl the internet searching out potential targets for attack. These actually target any IP addresses they find. When the website is offline and appears to be inactive to visitors, firewalls continue to filter and reject all of the unwanted traffic attempting to connect to the server.
Firewalls Secure the Server, Not Just Website Traffic
A firewall’s primary function is to safeguard the hosting environment, not just web traffic. Outside of web traffic, other services (SSH, FTP, databases, email ports, and control panels) still can be accessed while a website is in “down” mode.
Without a firewall, hackers constantly guess your passwords until they get in. If you use outdated software, attackers can use known bugs to take control. Hackers scan your server for open ports to bypass your website entirely and enter your system.
When properly configured, a firewall permits only approved/allowed traffic from trusted IP addresses to access your sensitive servers. Therefore, when your website is down, it doesn’t create a vulnerability in your website.
Automated Attacks Continue 24/7
Cyberspace is composed mostly of automated attacks. Most attacks are automated, regardless of whether a website is live or not. These attacks exploit known vulnerabilities, brute-force passwords, and look for exploitation patterns across thousands of different servers in a single hour.
When a website goes down, a common belief is that the server is either being maintained or misconfigured, and thus it becomes an attractive target for attackers. Firewalls continue to enforce security measures by blocking malicious IP addresses, limiting connection attempts to your server, and eliminating exploit scans before attackers reach your server.
Protection During Maintenance and Updates
During maintenance periods, all websites are particularly vulnerable to outside attacks. websites become less secure during updates, migrations, or configuration changes. For example, it’s common for services to restart with incorrect permission settings or have monitoring tools paused.
Firewalls serve as a protective barrier between the website and potential threats to remain secure. They help block access to networks and applications, thereby helping to keep the website from compromising its own infrastructure.
Protection Against Resource Drain and Recovery Delays
Many times, websites experience attacks that consume large amounts of your server resources (malicious traffic). This results in high server resource utilization due to excessive logging and high system CPU load/memory utilization.
Firewalls protect web servers from malicious traffic via filtering based on IP address or URL criteria. This filtration helps small & medium-sized websites to work smoothly within their limited server resource capacity. Additionally, early identification and blocking of malicious traffic enables quicker recovery and repair processes for websites affected by cybercrime.
Preserving Data and Preventing Hidden Compromise
Offline websites don’t erase all of the server data; rather, they retain the databases, backups, configurations, and user data at the system level. Attackers frequently target the information being stored on the servers themselves whenever the website goes down.
A firewall enforces specific access rules for who can connect to the databases and other internal services. It also inspects all of the outgoing traffic and stops the malware from making any external communications in case there has been a compromise. This helps to reduce the risk of the hidden breach being exposed only after the website comes back up.
Closing Summary
A firewall isn’t just a feature that protects your website when it’s active; it continually protects your server environment. Regardless of whether it is running fully, under maintenance, or not available at all, firewalls keep working behind the screens. Therefore, it is always on guard against an attacker, constantly monitoring for any attempts to breach your server.
Just because an attacker knows that a website is down doesn’t mean they will stop trying to compromise it. On the contrary, attackers take advantage of this downtime. Firewalls help to ensure that a website’s security remains active, even when visibility is diminished.
A firewall keeps your website clean while it’s offline. This means when you turn your website back on, you can be sure it hasn’t been hacked or damaged behind the scenes.
