When your website is ready to go live, the most important step is ensuring that the server hosting it is properly secured. Many project owners focus on design, speed, or content but forget the essential foundation — protection against attacks and data leaks. On the internet, every server is a potential target for hackers, so security cannot be postponed. Proper preparation before launch helps avoid most risks and ensures stable website operation from day one.
An SSL certificate is more than just a file with keys — it’s proof of your reputation as a website owner. It confirms that you control your domain and ensures that all data exchanged between the user and your server is securely encrypted. However, even if the certificate is installed and the connection shows the “lock” icon, that doesn’t automatically mean everything is safe. Attackers can create fake certificates, replace them during the connection process, or even use stolen keys. In such cases, visitors may see a “secure” site that actually runs on someone else’s server. That’s why it’s essential to know how to verify the authenticity and integrity of your own SSL certificate.
Many owners of small websites — blogs, portfolios, corporate pages, or informational resources — still believe that an SSL certificate is necessary only for sites that process online payments or collect users’ confidential data. However, this is a common misconception. Today, encrypted connections are not just a technical feature of large platforms but a universal standard that determines trust, security, and even visibility in search engines. Ignoring this factor means risking your reputation, even if your site seems “simple.”
Imagine the internet without the little padlock in your browser’s address bar. No green “https://”, no guarantee that the data you enter — from your login to your credit card number — is safe from prying eyes. That’s what the world would look like without SSL certificates. And although today they seem invisible, these digital keys are what keep the modern web afloat.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is an encryption technology that ensures secure data exchange between a user and a website. When you visit a page with HTTPS, your browser and the server “agree” on a unique key used to encrypt every byte of transmitted information. Without this mechanism, anyone positioned between you and the site could intercept your data — passwords, messages, files, or payment details. Today, dozens of organizations issue SSL certificates — from Let’s Encrypt to global certification authorities — all serving one purpose: to build trust between people and servers.
September 2025 became a painful lesson for the entire IT industry. In South Korea, a fire at the headquarters of the National Information Resources Service destroyed the government cloud storage system that had been used for seven years by hundreds of public institutions. As a result, more than 120,000 civil servants lost their work files, and the total amount of destroyed data reached a staggering 858 terabytes. This was not just a technical disaster — it was a vivid demonstration of how dangerous it can be to store everything in one place, even if that place is a “government cloud.”
The internet is changing rapidly, and with it, the sophistication of scammers is also growing. By 2025, phishing is no longer just primitive emails with mistakes — it has become a whole “industry” with its own support services and even phishing-as-a-service. Fake websites use deep learning to mimic the style of real websites and employee communication, while millions of phishing kits are available on the black market. For users, it is crucial to know how to tell a fake from the original.
When we register on social networks, email services, or online banking websites, account protection often comes down to just a password. However, most users still rely on simple combinations that attackers can crack within seconds. Ukrainian cybersecurity experts repeatedly note that in mass password leaks, the same primitive keys appear again and again — such as “123456,” “qwerty,” or “password.” Most of these passwords are guessed by automated hacking tools in less than a second. To reduce risks, it’s important to know which combinations to avoid, how to create strong unique access keys, and why it’s safer to enter data only on websites with encrypted connections.
Modern data centers store valuable data and support online services, making physical security just as important as digital protection. Even the most advanced cybersecurity systems are powerless if an intruder can access the server room or if a fire damages the equipment. In high-class facilities like Tier III data centers, physical protection is a top priority—since uptime and data safety directly depend on it.
Modern companies are increasingly adopting automation for software deployment processes. Combining CI/CD and the GitOps approach makes it possible to update infrastructure quickly and without manual intervention. However, the more automation you have, the higher the risks if security is not properly configured.
This is especially critical when an application or infrastructure is deployed on a VPS connected to a public network. In such a scenario, a supply chain attack can lead to full server compromise and leakage of confidential data.
Reliable backup is a critical part of any modern IT infrastructure. For VPS owners, physical server administrators, or cloud environment users—where every failure can cost a business money, reputation, or even complete data loss—implementing an automated backup system is not a luxury, but a necessity. In this article, we’ll explore how to build a flexible and reliable backup backend using Proxmox, BorgBackup (BorgArchive), and rclone.