Most Secure Web Hosting Services

A hosting provider affects your website in multiple ways. Among all characteristics, security is often overlooked.

“Out of all the websites, why exactly should mine get hacked?”

This is how most people think, especially those creating new websites from scratch. Unfortunately, having a new and unknown website won’t save you from getting hacked. Today, most attacks run automatically, scanning dozens of websites each minute while eventually crossing yours.

You and your users need to be sure that any sensitive information is protected at all times.

Hosting security can significantly factor into your monthly cost, but you can avoid most risks simply by being hosted with the right provider to protect you at a deeper level. Cheap options can be unreliable, while expensive plans might not fit your budget. Finding the middle ground is easier when you know which features to look for, so let's dive into it.

What Makes the Most Secure Web Hosting?

Managed web hosting companies are responsible for keeping the servers secure. You should make sure to choose a provider that implements industry best practices and maintains high standards when it comes to the security of your website.

Ranking the best web hosting services in terms of security, we paid close attention to the following features:

Regular Backups

Backups allow you to copy your website’s files and databases to a secure location, primarily via FTP or SFTP. It means that even in the worst-case scenario, you’ll be able to get your site up and running again.

We recommend selecting a provider that offers regular and automatic backups to maintain this security base. Feeling confident that your website’s information can never be lost is worth a few extra dollars for reliable backup tools. The ability to take regular backups makes 16.67% of our total security score.

SSH Access

The Secure Shell Protocol is a cryptographic protocol for operating services securely over an unsecured network. SSH key-based authentication is used for logging into a server and executing commands. SSH also allows forwarding and tunneling, which makes it convenient for multiple operations like remote host administration, file management, and maintenance of application traffic security. SSH contributes 8.33% to our overall security score.

Firewalls (WAF)

A firewall is a network security device that monitors and filters incoming and outgoing traffic based on predefined rules and policies. The main difference between classic firewalls and web application firewalls (WAF) is that they investigate the communication on the application level. A host-based firewall is a hosting security software installed directly and connected to the network. These tools detect and block malware, viruses, or other harmful scripts. The best web hosting services for security include firewalls with standard configurations that prevent most threats and unauthorized activities, so you don’t have anything to worry about. WAF and its quality make up 16.67% of our security score.

Two-factor Authentication

Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a security process in which users provide two different authentication factors to verify themselves. In other words, the provider will double-check that the login request to your hosting account is coming from you. In addition to entering your unique password, you will be required to confirm access through another venue.

Two-factor authentication eliminates the risks associated with compromised passwords. You are probably familiar with 2FA already. You go through a multifactor verification when a website sends a numeric key to access your profile, often via email, SMS, or an authentificator app. 2FA availability weighs at 8.33% of the total security score.

DDoS Protection

What is a DDoS attack? It occurs when multiple requests are sent to a server simultaneously. The purpose of this attack is to deplete server resources. The website becomes overloaded and unavailable for legitimate users.

DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) protection, therefore, is a service offered by the best web hosting security platforms. It uses algorithms and advanced software to monitor incoming traffic to the website. It denies access to any traffic that isn't legitimate, whereas valid traffic continues to filter through to the site. It’s often also referred to as bot protection. DDoS protection makes up 8.33% of the overall security score.

Hosting Type

The hosting type is the most crucial factor when it comes to the security of your website. Similar to performance, the most significant difference is between shared hosting and the rest (cloud hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting) since you are actively sharing a server with shared hosting. It makes your website more vulnerable to attacks, as a security breach at another website makes it more likely that your website will be affected as well.

Shared hosting providers can advertise as much as they want about shielding websites, but the risk stays significantly higher than for all other hosting types.

For this reason, it is only fair to give the other hosting types a security bonus, which goes into our security ranking of 25%.

Individual Security Features

Among the best web hosts for security, we have noticed several providers going above and beyond to protect their client websites. These features range from custom password protections and integrated enterprise plans from security companies such as Cloudflare to completely free hack removals from the hosting company.

Since some of these features offer extreme added value for customers, we have included them individually in our security score based on their importance. This criterion accounts for 16.67% of the total security score.

10 Most Secure Web Hosting Services

How to Choose a Secure Web Host

Security is critical, and that’s also why it weighs 25% in our best web hosting ranking. To choose the best secure web host, you should become clear about where your priorities truly lie apart from security because each provider in our top 3 offers superior security standards that you can rely on. Figuring out your core needs will help you narrow it down to the one and only provider that fits you best.

If you need to take a closer look at some web hosting providers, compare them in detail by using our comparison tool, or check out the finder tool if you require more guided help to make your decision.