Maintenance keeps software updated, backups tested, and small fixes flowing — essential hygiene. Hardening adds deliberate configuration: headers, WAF rules, access policies, malware monitoring, 2FA, upload restrictions, and incident playbooks that maintenance alone does not define. Many clients combine both: maintenance for monthly cadence, hardening as a foundational project refreshed after major architecture changes or incidents. If you only patch plugins but leave admin open to the world with shared passwords, updates will not prevent compromise. Faraday scopes overlap explicitly so you are not paying twice for the same ticket.
Technical
Website security hardening
Reduce attack surface: headers, WAF, malware monitoring, 2FA and incident playbooks.
WAF, headers, malware scans, 2FA and incident response procedures.
What you get
- Vulnerability review
- HTTP security headers
- 2FA and access control
- Incident response plan
Who website security hardening is for
Security hardening from Faraday Web Services is for organisations that cannot treat their website as “just marketing” — it holds customer data, receives payments, connects to CRM, or simply cannot afford downtime and reputational damage from defacement or malware. Typical clients include WordPress and WooCommerce operators, B2B firms with logged-in areas, ecommerce brands, and custom PHP applications exposed to the public internet.
You are a strong fit if you have suffered incidents before, if plugins and admin users multiply without governance, if compliance or insurers ask for baseline controls, or if you are launching integrations that increase attack surface. Hardening complements WordPress maintenance (updates and backups) and should precede or accompany API integrations and AI integrations where secrets and webhooks multiply risk.
It is not penetration testing with exploit chains — we focus on practical reduction of likelihood and impact. If you need a formal pentest certificate for a regulated sector, we coordinate specialists; for everyday business sites, layered hardening, monitoring, and response playbooks deliver disproportionate value.
What security hardening covers
We reduce attack surface across hosting, application, accounts, and traffic — aligned with how your site is actually built and operated. Recommendations are prioritised: stop active compromise first, close obvious doors second, then improve detection and recovery. Findings are written for owners and developers, not only security specialists.
Controls respect uptime and editor workflows. Locking down admin without training editors invites shadow IT; disabling caches blindly hurts performance. We balance protection with maintainability so your team can still publish, sell, and integrate safely.
Application, WordPress, and access hygiene
For WordPress we review core, theme, and plugin versions, remove unused extensions, harden wp-config, limit login attempts, enforce strong roles, and relocate or protect wp-admin where appropriate. File integrity monitoring and malware scans catch common injection patterns. Custom stacks receive equivalent checks: dependency updates, exposed debug modes, upload validation, and secure session handling.
Two-factor authentication, least-privilege accounts, and break-glass procedures for agencies are documented. Integration keys for CRM or payment gateways belong server-side only — the same discipline we use in API integration projects — never in public JavaScript or repository history.
Network edge, headers, WAF, and monitoring
HTTP security headers (CSP where feasible, HSTS, frame controls, referrer policy) are tuned to your real assets — not copy-pasted templates that break analytics or embeds. Web Application Firewall rules block common probes and brute force without blocking legitimate checkout traffic from EU mobile networks.
Uptime and security alerting, log retention guidance, and backup restore drills pair with hosting and DevOps improvements: staging isolation, SSH keys, separate production credentials, and patch windows. After incidents we help post-mortem and feed lessons into maintenance runbooks.
How we deliver security hardening
Engagements start with scoped access and risk context — what data you hold, which integrations exist, and regulatory expectations in UK, France, Belgium, or Switzerland. Delivery steps align with our broader process page: assess, implement on staging, verify, hand over runbooks.
Assessment and prioritised remediation plan
We review hosting panels, DNS, TLS configuration, admin users, plugin inventory, backup jobs, and recent logs. Vulnerability patterns (outdated software, world-writable directories, exposed git or .env backups, weak forms) are scored by exploitability and business impact. Quick wins ship first; structural changes (WAF migration, CSP rollout, admin URL strategy) are scheduled with rollback plans.
Implementation, verification, and incident readiness
Changes are tested on staging against editors, WooCommerce, forms, and webhooks. We verify headers with scanners and manual checks, confirm backups restore to a clean environment, and document who to call when alerts fire. Incident response playbooks cover containment, communication, evidence preservation, and recovery order — so panic does not delete logs you need.
What influences pricing
Cost depends on platform complexity, number of environments, integration count, and whether active cleanup is required. A compromised WordPress site needs malware removal and forensics before hardening counts; a greenfield custom build on managed hosting may need a shorter control baseline.
Ongoing monitoring and patch governance can continue under maintenance rather than a duplicate retainer. Quotes list in-scope controls, assumptions (for example you provide hosting SSO), and exclusions such as full red-team exercises or legal DPA drafting.
Request an estimate via our free quote form or contact page. Browse the services catalogue to compare hardening with performance optimisation and DevOps when infrastructure moves are part of the fix.
Security for UK and European operations
Cross-border sites face varied expectations: UK GDPR, EU GDPR, cookie rules, and sector guidance (professional services, health-adjacent disclaimers, finance marketing). We configure consent, forms, and logging with proportionality — collecting what you need, retaining it briefly where possible, and restricting admin access by role.
Payment flows through WooCommerce, Stripe, or bespoke checkout should keep card data off your server; we validate that integrations do not log secrets. French and Belgian clients often need bilingual incident communication templates; Swiss clients may require specific hosting or data-location conversations we scope early.
Company background: about page. Engagement mechanics mirror other technical services documented in our process overview and legal information.
Why businesses choose Faraday for security
Clients choose us when they want defensible improvements without fear-selling. We implement controls we also rely on for our own delivery: version control, staged deploys, secret management, and least privilege on hosting accounts.
Security supports SEO and revenue indirectly — hacked sites lose rankings, show browser warnings, and leak forms spam that wastes sales time. Pair hardening with an SEO audit after recovery to fix indexation and malware flags in Search Console.
Buildable recommendations
We are the same team that ships custom WordPress, e-commerce stores, and integrations — so fixes are realistic for your stack, not generic checklists that break checkout on Friday afternoon.
Hardening that stays effective after launch
Controls decay when plugins return, interns get admin access, or campaign landers bypass review. We leave runbooks, optional monitoring hooks, and clear ownership between marketing, IT, and agencies. New AI chat features and marketing tags should pass the same review as code deploys.
When you need a credible security baseline before scaling traffic or integrations, start with a free quote. We confirm whether remediation, hardening, or both are required and propose phases that respect trading hours and campaign calendars.
Frequently asked questions
Often yes, as a phased engagement: contain the attack, remove malware and backdoors, rotate all credentials and API keys, review user accounts, then harden to reduce recurrence. We verify Search Console and browser safe-browsing status after cleanup. Severe cases may require rebuild on clean hosting with content migration — we say so early rather than repeatedly disinfecting the same weak setup. Forensics depth depends on scope; legal or insurance reporting may need specialists we can introduce. Prevention afterwards ties into {link:wordpress-maintenance|maintenance} and monitoring.
Poorly applied CSP or WAF rules can — which is why we stage changes and test real user journeys: product pages, cart, booking forms, and embedded maps. We tune policies incrementally, document required exceptions, and prefer nonces or allow-lists over disabling protections entirely. Marketing retains visibility through governed tag loading rather than ad-hoc script pastes. Checkout and CRM webhooks are replayed on staging after each header change. If a vendor requires insecure practices, we surface the trade-off in writing so leadership decides consciously, with compensating controls where possible. Rollback steps are documented before production deploy so you can revert within minutes if a campaign depends on a specific embed.
Our hardening service is pragmatic risk reduction for business websites — not a formal pentest report for PCI-DSS QSA sign-off or ISO certification. When you need credentialed testing, we scope partner specialists and implement their remediations in a follow-on phase. We help with everyday GDPR-aligned practices: access control, logging proportionality, backup encryption, and vendor review for integrations. Data processing agreements and privacy notices remain your legal responsibility; we supply technical evidence they often request. Sector-specific regimes (FCA marketing, medical device rules) still need your counsel; we implement controls they specify and avoid claiming compliance we cannot certify.
Secrets live server-side in environment variables or managed secret stores — never in front-end bundles or public repositories. We rotate keys after incidents, restrict OAuth scopes, validate webhooks with signatures, and log failures without leaking payloads. The same standards apply to {link:ai-integrations|AI integrations} where provider keys are high value. {link:api-integrations|API integration} projects include a credential matrix: which system holds which token, renewal dates, and break-glass rotation steps. Developers receive documentation; marketers do not need raw keys to publish blog posts. Quarterly rotation reminders and offboarding checklists remove ex-employee access from hosting, CMS, and integration dashboards in the same ticket.
Typically hosting or server panel (read/write scoped), DNS or CDN if edge rules change, WordPress admin or deployment keys, and backup visibility. We prefer staging mirrors production plugins and WAF settings. Shared credentials are discouraged — named accounts with 2FA are set up during the project. Access is revoked at handover if you wish, with a short list of retained break-glass accounts documented. For assessment-only phases, read-only access plus exports may suffice before remediation is approved. We never request card data or production database dumps unless cleanup scope explicitly requires them and you approve secure transfer.
A clean WordPress site without active malware often moves through assessment and core controls in two to three weeks including staging tests. Compromised sites, complex multi-site setups, or bespoke applications with many integrations take longer because cleanup and webhook retesting dominate. Rush timelines are avoided when they skip restore drills — proving backups work matters more than a checkbox. Phased delivery is common: contain and clean first, then headers and WAF, then monitoring and runbooks. Ongoing monitoring and patch cadence continue via {link:wordpress-maintenance|maintenance} when you want Faraday to stay involved after the foundation is stable.
Compromised sites get deindexed, flagged in browsers, or flooded with spam pages that poison crawl budget. Ransomware or defacement stops conversions entirely. Well-tuned WAF and headers should not destroy {link:performance-optimisation|performance} — we coordinate both workstreams and measure LCP on key URLs after edge changes. After recovery, an {link:seo-audit|SEO audit} helps clear security warnings, fix redirects, and rebuild trust signals. Google Safe Browsing and Search Console security issues are tracked to resolution. Treat security as revenue protection: downtime and brand damage often cost more than the hardening project fee, especially during peak trading or fundraising windows.
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