Why your website must be secure and up to date in 2026 

When a cyber attack halts production at the UK’s biggest car manufacturer for weeks, now almost months, it’s a huge wake up call to digital risks. Jaguar Land Rover’s ongoing production outage has disrupted factories, retailers and suppliers proving that just one breach can ripple through an entire supply chain and stop real-world operations in their tracks.  

Public institutions haven’t been spared either. The British Library’s ransomware attack started with a single weak control, with hackers breaking through the library’s virtual private network that allowed employees to access its network from any location. This spiralled into the possession of stolen data, like employees’ passport scans and work contracts and led to months of disruption and costly recovery work. The Library and the UK Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) later published lessons so others could avoid the same mistakes.  

For senior leaders across further and higher education, local and mayoral authorities, councils, public bodies and professional services, this is not a new issue. Your website is often your most visible service and when it’s left neglected it becomes a convenient backdoor into all your more sensitive digital systems.  

Even the celebs aren’t safe! Jeremy Clarkson’s pub The Farmer’s Dog was subject to a cyber attack, with £27,000 being stolen through his accounting systems. The hackers went unnoticed at first as there were no obvious signs on how they got in. This example highlights just how important good cyber security procedures are.  No one is safe from a cyber attack, whether you’re a public figure or small business owner just starting up.  

Your website as an easy in 

So now you’ve heard the horror stories, let’s look at your website and see how it’s security features could be improved.  

Modern websites combine all different integrations. From CRM and marketing clouds to student information systems, payment gateways, SSO, analytics and third-party scripts. If a site is compromised attackers can weave through all connected services, tamper with content and gather data, just like the attack on The British Library.

What “good” looks like in 2026 

Security isn’t something you set up once and forget about, it can’t just be left to run, it needs constant care. That means updates are scheduled, not left to chance. Backups aren’t just stored, they’re tested rigorously to make sure they actually work. Monitoring  and maintaining your security should become part of your routine, making it an ongoing process.  

Here’s 8 key safety tips:

1)In case it wasn’t clear above, the most important thing you can do for your websites security is maintain it. This means setting schedules, updating regularly and consistently maintaining.  

2) Remove those unused plugins so there is less chance of your site being targeted, old plugins compromise your site.  

3) Use multi factor authentication so there’s less risk of unauthorised people getting in. Putting this barrier in place is especially necessary when you have multiple users on your site.

4) Secure your website behind a firewall to reduce the risk of attack. Our go to is Cloudflare, a firewall essentially just adds an extra layer of protection to your site.

 

 

5) Only provide access where and when it’s needed. Don’t give an editor full access to your site, they might not be as cyber safety aware as you, if they get compromised your site risks getting compromised.

6) Don’t reuse passwords. Use unique passwords each time you’re asked to create one. If one of your other accounts is compromised, your website stays safer behind the barrier of a different password.

7) Add a security monitor to watch over visits to website, including any traffic that might blocked, we use Wordfence as our site is built on WordPress.

8) Now you’ve read through these tips and put in all this effort, make sure the teams you work with (agencies, freelancers and other parts of your supply chain) uphold these same standards.

These small changes can have a big impact on your website’s safety.

If you take anything away from this post, let it be these useful, implementable and resourceful tips. If you need any further help, just get in touch and we can help bring your cyber security up to speed. We offer website maintenance to make sure your site is monitored and updated regularly, performing at its best.  

Your website represents your business. It’s one of your most important tools, don’t risk compromising it. Keep it protected.