Security Headers Check: The First Line of Website Defense

first step: check Security Headers

check your link site in this URL

https://securityheaders.com/

Security Headers to Enhance Website Security

In today’s digital landscape, website security is a major concern for website owners. Even if your site uses HTTPS, neglecting HTTP security headers can leave it vulnerable to cyber threats. One of the simplest yet most effective ways to boost security is by configuring these headers in your .htaccess file or server settings

Identifying Your Website’s Web Server

Before configuring security headers check, it is essential to determine which web server your site is running on

For WordPress websites, you can check this information through

Site Health → Info → Server section

Submitting a support ticket to your hosting provider

Nginx, Apache, LiteSpeed

Plugin for Configuring Security Headers

you can incrase security headers with plugin wordpress

https://wordpress.org/plugins/tags/security-headers/

Setting Up Security Headers with AI Assistance

it is necessary to access the .htaccess settings, where the entire content should be copied and pasted into the AI chat. Following this, the AI should be requested to analyse the existing configurations and merge the necessary security header codes according to the web server in use

Disruption Due to Security Header Configurations

In the event of website downtime resulting from the utilisation of a plugin or AI-generated code, it is imperative to have previously stored the original `.htaccess` file in a discrete folder. This precautionary measure enables expeditious restoration of the previous code in the event of any emergent issues, thereby ensuring seamless resolution

Probable Causes: The deployment of security plugins, such as Wordfence or AIOS, has the potential to interfere with security header configurations

first creat Backup

Analysis of Security Header Factors

To determine which security header factors are essential for your website, the best reference for scoring and final evaluation is Cloudflare

Configuring Security Headers with Cloudflare

Without a doubt, Cloudflare is the most convenient and reliable tool for automatically configuring security headers check for your website. By simply changing your DNS settings, you can seamlessly implement these security enhancements
In this article, we’ll explore six essential security headers check and explain why you should use them

Security Headers Check list

 Strict-Transport-Security (HSTS) – Enforcing HTTPS
Why is it important?
If your site allows access via HTTP, hackers can use Man-in-the-Middle (MITM) attacks to steal sensitive user data
🔹 Recommended .htaccess configuration
apache
CopyEdit
Header always set Strict-Transport-Security “max-age=31536000; includeSubDomains; preload”
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 X-Frame-Options – Preventing Clickjacking
✅ Why is it important?
Attackers can embed your website inside a malicious iframe, tricking users into unknowingly submitting their data
🔹 Recommended configuration
apache
CopyEdit
Header always set X-Frame-Options “SAMEORIGIN”
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 Content-Security-Policy (CSP) – Preventing XSS and Malicious Scripts
✅ Why is it important?
Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks can inject malicious scripts into your site. CSP helps by restricting which scripts can be loaded
🔹 Recommended configuration
apache
CopyEdit
Header always set Content-Security-Policy “default-src ‘self’; script-src ‘self’ https://trustedscripts.com”
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 X-Content-Type-Options – Preventing MIME-Sniffing
✅ Why is it important?
Some browsers attempt to “guess” the file type, which can lead to executing malicious scripts
🔹 Recommended configuration
apache
CopyEdit
Header always set X-Content-Type-Options “nosniff”
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Referrer-Policy – Controlling Referrer Header Data
✅ Why is it important?
When users click on a link, the destination website can receive referrer information from your site. With Referrer-Policy, you control what data is shared
🔹 Recommended configuration
apache
CopyEdit
Header always set Referrer-Policy “no-referrer-when-downgrade”
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 Permissions-Policy – Restricting Browser Features
✅ Why is it important?
This header limits website access to browser features like camera, microphone, geolocation, and sensors to enhance privacy
🔹 Recommended configuration
apache
CopyEdit
Header always set Permissions-Policy “geolocation=(), microphone=()”

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Expect-CT

✅ Why is it important
Ensures TLS certificate transparency to prevent CT-related attacks
Example: Expect-CT: max-age=86400, enforce

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Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy (COOP)

✅ Why is it important
Prevents Tab-Napping attacks and protects user sessions
Example: Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy: same-origin

All factors

X-XSS-Protection (non-standard)
Expect-CT
Access-Control-Allow-Origin
Access-Control-Allow-Methods
Access-Control-Allow-Headers
X-Content-Security-Policy
X-Content-Type-Options
X-Frame-Options
X-Permitted-Cross-Domain-Policies
X-Powered-By
Content-Security-Policy
Referrer-Policy
HTTP Strict Transport Security / HSTS
Content-Security-Policy
Content-Security-Policy-Report-Only
Clear-Site-Data
Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy-Report-Only
Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy-Report-Only
Cross-Origin-Embedder-Policy
Cross-Origin-Opener-Policy
Cross-Origin-Resource-Policy
Permissions-Policy
Strict-dynamic
Strict-Transport-Security
FLoC (Federated Learning of Cohorts)

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