SiteLock is a cloud-based, website security solution for small businesses. It works as an early detection alarm for common online threats like malware injections, bot attacks etc. It not only protects websites from potential online threats, but also fixes vulnerabilities. Features include:
- website scans to check for the presence of malicious code or vulnerabilities
- automatic removal of any identified malicious code / malware
- basic firewall
- website reputation monitoring (check if the website is blacklisted in search engines and spam blacklists)
- CDN to boost site speed, and hence rankings on search engines
Note SiteLock is only designed to check the security for websites ,its not designed for a personal computer .
Why i need Sitelock and why an SSL certificate not suffice?
An SSL certificate is used only to encrypt a connection between the browser and server to safely transmit sensitive information and prevent any monitor while transmitting data . However, SiteLock actually protects the database where this information is stored, scans your website files and applications, protects from data breaches and spreading of viruses/malware. These functionalities are not provided by an SSL certificate.
How do I configure SiteLock for my website?
SiteLock is a cloud-based service and does not require any installation on your host or on your website . Once provisioned for your website, it automatically starts scanning your website using the basic scans.
To use the advance features, some amount of configuration is required:
- TrustSeal – requires minimal installation
- SMART Scan – requires user to input FTP details in the SiteLock Panel
- Firewall – requires addition of an A record
- CDN – requires addition of a CNAME record
What is SiteLock badge or TrustSeal?
SiteLock badge or TrustSeal is a image that can be displayed on your website to assure users that your website is secure and malware-free. Since SiteLock performs all scans daily, the TrustSeal is update everyday to indicate that all scans have passed.
What is Deep 360-Degree Site Scan?
Deep 360-Degree Site Scan checks all files susceptible to threats, including .css files, .js files, .jpg, .png and other image files and others. It performs a deep scan checking for anything that could turn into a security issue.
What different types of scan are available?
Available types of scan include:
- Daily Malware Scan
- Daily FTP Scanning
- Website Application Scan
- SQL Injection Scan
- Cross Site Scripting (XSS) Scan
All these scans are part of the Deep 360-Degree Site Scan. The availability and frequency (daily or one-time)
In case a site is infected, will the TrustSeal display threat notification to the visitors on site?
If a scan fails, site visitors will not be alerted to any problem. The TrustSeal will simply continue to display the last date when all scans were passed. If the site owner fails to rectify the problem, within a few days SiteLock will remove the TrustSeal from the site. The TrustSeal will never indicate that a website has failed a scan.
What is SMART?
Secure Malware Alert and Removal Tool (SMART), if enabled, performs an in-depth site scan and automatically removes malicious code from files on the site. SiteLock makes calls to the web server and replicates the website files on their secure servers and scans the contents thoroughly to identify malicious code or vulnerabilities. In the course of doing this, it can also remove the malicious code from the files, to prevent further damage.
You can choose to not allow SMART to remove any code. In that case, you will only be notified of the vulnerability identified, and you will need to manually check / remove it.
Note
- To use this tool, you need to provide your FTP information in the SiteLock panel, along with the port number. This port number will be 21 for XsoftHost’s Linux and Windows servers.
- This tool uses the FTP protocol.
How will I know what changes SMART made to the website / What happens if the website breaks after SMART removed some code?
SiteLock provides a month’s worth of change logs for your website. You can always restore the previous version of the page / website. You then need to manually check the highlighted code for any malicious components and remove them yourself.
What if SiteLock has incorrectly highlighted legitimate code as vulnerable / malicious?
It might be happen that certain code on the website looks vulnerable but it is still doing what you intended it to do. If so, you can use the Report a False Positive option in the SiteLock Panel and SiteLock will ignore that vulnerability moving forward.
What is the purpose of Domain Verification?
The purpose of this verification is to ensure that the user indeed owns and controls the website.
- Domain names registered under XsoftHost will be automatically verified.
- For other domain names, the verification process can be completed in one of the following ways:
- Add DNS Records for the TrueShield setup
- Add a meta tag to your website page
- Upload a file to your website
Instructions for these options are available in the SiteLock Dashboard.
What is the purpose of Business Verification?
Business verification is a service offered by SiteLock where it verifies the phone number and physical presence of a business. This is typically conducted to assure online users that a business actually exists and it is not a fly-by-night setup. This consists of:
- Phone Verification – You need to enter your phone number in the SiteLock Panel and request a verification. Within an hour, you will receive an automated call from SiteLock and you will be provided with a 4 digit code. You then need to submit that code in the SiteLock Panel to verify your phone number.
- Postal Address Verification – After providing your postal address in the SiteLock Panel, you will receive a letter at your postal address within 7-10 days of requesting verification. This letter will contain a 4 digit code that needs to be submitted in the SiteLock Panel to verify the physical address.
Note
If you want to display your contact information on the TrustSeal, it is necessary to verify your business details.
What is Reputation Monitoring?
SiteLock’s Reputation Monitoring consists of the following components:
- Search Engine Blacklists: SiteLock monitors if any page or link on the website is listed in the blacklists maintained by search engines or matches with their database of over 7000 known malware sites.
- Spam Blacklists: SiteLock checks if the email server is listed as a spammer on leading blacklists so as to prevent emails from being marked as spam.
- SSL Verification: SiteLock examines the site’s SSL certificate to verify
- Encryption strength
- Certification Authority
- Certificate expiry
- Validity of name / domain name
What type of a Firewall is offered by SiteLock and how to set it up?
SiteLock offers a basic firewall to help block bot traffic which may harm the website. On logging into the SiteLock Dashboard, you can see a graph of your website’s traffic which reports human visits and bot visits.
To use SiteLock’s Firewall, you need to add an A record to your domain name in order to point to SiteLock’s servers where the Firewall is installed. This way, all traffic coming to the website is routed through the Firewall.
How is traffic routed back to the website after going through the Firewall?
You are required to specify the IP address of your website in the SiteLock Panel so that after routing your traffic through the Firewall, SiteLock can divert it back to your website.
Can I configure the Firewall?
The Firewall is pre-configured, and no options are available within the SiteLock Panel to manage it. However, in the higher end Plans, users can configure certain aspects of the Firewall.
Will SiteLock’s Firewall block bots of search engines also?
Search engines use spiders to crawl and index websites. SiteLock’s Firewall can distinguish good bots from bad bots and hence will not block search engines from indexing the site.
What is a Content Delivery Network (CDN) ?
A Content Delivery Network is a set of servers, spread across the world that cache your website. When a user requests your website, the server closest to the user’s location will serve those requests. This in turn serves the website faster, thus speeding up its performance.
Note
Faster load times not only improve user experience but also contribute to better website ranking, as search engines take load time into account while ranking a website.
How can I set up CDN for my website?
You need to add a CNAME record to a sub-domain (www.mysite.com) to redirect to SiteLock’s CDN.
Note
A CNAME record should always be added to a sub-domain and not the primary domain, as it might clash with an MX record set up on the primary domain, thus hampering the email.
What products is SiteLock compatible with?
SiteLock is compatible with all types of hosting purchased either from XsoftHost or elsewhere.
Can I use a single SiteLock Order for multiple domain names?
No. A single SiteLock Order can be used for only a single domain name. Hence, separate SiteLock Orders need to purchased for domain names individually. However, all SiteLock Orders belonging to the same user can be managed from a single SiteLock Panel.
Can the SiteLock Panel be accessed directly through a URL?
There is no way to access the SiteLock Panel directly through any URL. It can only be accessed from the SiteLock Management page from within the Reseller / Customer Control Panel.
What steps need to taken on receiving a threat alert?
On receiving a threat alert, login to the SiteLock Panel and view the details of the threat. Then, you may:
- contact the website developer to fix the affected code;
- use SMART for auto-removal of the malware;
- check if all the applications and scripts are up to date. Judiciously use the third-party plug-ins and disable them, wherever possible.
I recently signed up for SiteLock and noticed that I am getting some empty submissions from some of the forms on my web site (Contact us, etc.)
SiteLock probes your site to determine if fields and forms on your site are vulnerable to attempts by hackers looking to exploit these forms to gain access to your data. This will result in attempts to submit forms on your website with encoded data.
If you wish to stop receiving these e-mails or entries, you may want to do some validation on the fields within your form to ensure that data is being submitted in the correct formats before triggering e-mails or database inputs. Since SiteLock inserts data that would not likely be valid for any fields on your site, these validation measures should stop you from getting these empty e- mails or entries. It is also a good coding and security practice to make sure your website visitors are providing the correct data in the expected formats.