Is your website ready for the new world order?

Many organizations are feeling a sense of urgency now, with the rapid changes in the world, to prioritise matters of information security, integrity and privacy higher. But where should you start? Our answer: Start with what is most important. Only you know what that is in your IT environment, but your public website is probably somewhere at the top of your list.

A sieve with fluid dripping from it

Why? Because without the right precautions, your website can quickly turn from an asset into a liability. When left unchecked, it can:

  • be used in misinformation campaigns by actors with bad intent
  • be used to attack or exploit your visitors
  • expose information about your visitors to third parties

To minimise that risk, you need a specialist to examine your website. But you can get a hunch about its status with free online tools.

Webbkoll

Webbkoll is a free online tool that “helps you check what data-protecting measures a site has taken to help you exercise control over your privacy”.

To use it, just visit webbkoll.5july.net/, enter the address to your website in the form, and click “Check”.

If you’re getting this result, you’re fine regarding the privacy and security hygiene aspects that are checked with their automated test:

Screenshot from Webbkoll with satisfying result

If you get another result, that will provide helpful information about what to adjust. Here is what that might look like:

Screenshot from Webbkoll with non-satisfying result

Your website folks should know what to do about those problems.

Webperf

If you represent an organisation in Sweden, Webperf is another very useful service. They run and publish the results of automated tests of all public sector websites in Sweden and offer other organisations to join voluntarily for a fee. You can also access the software for all tests as open source, free of charge and run them in your own environment.

The tests cover a wide array of quality aspects on your website, but regarding security, integrity and privacy, the most important ones are:

  • HTTP & Technology test (HTTP & tekniktest)
  • Integrity test using Webbkoll (Integritetstest med Webbkoll)
  • Software (Mjukvara)
  • Tracking and Integrity (Spårning och integritet)

If your site scores 5.0 out of 5.0 in these four categories, you’re in a great place. If it doesn’t, again, you will get helpful information about what you need to adjust. And again, your website folks should know what to do about those problems. As we often say, a found and understood problem is half solved. Good luck!

In need of help?

If you want to take these matters seriously, we’re happy to help. At the time of writing, the four websites with the highest overall score out of all websites tested by Webperf were developed by us. We can refurbish your website, replace it, or advise you and/or your vendor to solve the most important problems. We’re technology agnostic and can help using any technology stack.

If you so choose, we also have a website offering. Sustainable websites is our platform for developing websites with excellent scores in accessibility, search engine optimization, performance, privacy, integrity and security. Our websites are hosted in Europe, we don’t use third-party technology to track users, and we don't store cookies on users' devices. When others consider GDPR an obstacle, we are privacy-first and take the integrity of users and your business seriously.

Don't hesitate to reach out if you have questions or need help getting your website ready for the new world order!

Disclaimer: factor10 has no association with Webkoll or Webperf. We mention these services because we like them and find them helpful for the mentioned purposes, and we think you might do too.