CERT NZ says there are four simple steps which New Zealand businesses can use to protect their websites: Secure it, Back it, Auto it, and Check it.

"While cyber security can sound pretty complex, or something that small businesses wouldn't need to worry about, it all boils down to a few simple steps to keep websites safe, secure, and up-and-running," CERT NZ Senior Incident Manager Erica Anderson says.

CERT NZ has a wide range of resources which are designed to aid business cybersecurity. Their website protection measures:

Secure it

Your clients trust you to keep their information safe - including the communication that you have with them. An easy way to do this is to make suer your website uses HTTPS everywhere - this includes the content pages of your website and also the areas behind the scenes, like where you log in to make updates.

Auto it

Running a business is hectic - you've got heaps of things to remember, from payroll to ordering. Make it easier by setting everything for your website that you can to update automatically. Whether it's automatically renewing your domain name, updating your software or making backups, you can set and forget and focus on other areas.

Back it

Even with the best laid plans, things can go wrong. Sometimes it's because you're running late and sometimes it's because something goes a bit peculiar with your website. Having a recent backup of your website is invaluable if something goes wrong. They're most useful if they're recent and cover both the pages themselves and any data your website holds.

Check it

It seems pretty obvious, but one of the best ways to keep your website safe is to keep an eye on it. When you check your website regularly, you're familiar with what's on it and it makes it easier to notice when something's out of place. For example, if you notice some weird content that you didn't put there, someone else might have access to your website and is using it to host bad content.

CERT NZ provides a downloadable business website checklist.