Managed VPS and Shared Hosting: Cybersecurity Considerations

Written on 08 February, 2024 by Matthew Storer

Digital security comes in many forms, but the security of your website hosting can often be overlooked. Whether you’re running a business website, an e-commerce platform, or a personal blog, choosing the right web hosting solution is a critical decision.

Delve into the cybersecurity advantages of Managed Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting over the more traditional cPanel shared hosting plus insights to help you make the correct hosting choice for your website.

TLDR: Both hosting options are very secure however VPS hosting is more secure than shared hosting due to the nature of not sharing with others and allowing more customisation. There are considerations which we dive into below.

What is Shared Hosting?

Shared hosting: A hotel room in the hotel.

Shared hosting is known for its cost-affordability and user-friendliness, making it an attractive option from beginners to large businesses. In this setup, multiple users share the same server resources such as the Central Processing Unit (CPU), memory, and disk space. This means behind the scenes you are sharing the same server with 100’s of different accounts.

At Melbourne IT we use cPanel web hosting software on our shared hosting to help you manage your websites. cPanel has robust cybersecurity protection built in however there are still slim chances of risks which we will discuss below.

Shared Hosting Security Risks

Inherited from having a shared hosting, you may have a higher chance of security risks due to having multiple customers sharing the same server. These are well known risks so the team at Melbourne IT monitor these closely.

Shared Hosting Security Risk: Cross contamination

Issues such as cross-site contamination, where a security breach in one website due to another customer’s code vulnerabilities can potentially affect others on the same server make shared hosting less secure than other options.

Shared Hosting Security Risk: Plan Tier

Moving up to the next tier shared hosting plan will decrease this risk as your website will be on a server with less customers and the websites will generally be built by more experienced developers.

Shared Hosting Security Risk: Overload due to bad neighbours

Additionally, as you share the total resources with your ‘neighbours,’ this can lead to performance and security issues, as one user’s resource consumption can impact others.

Although each customer has bandwidth limits, poor coding from one customer can slow the entire server on occasion. This can have the effect of a Denial-of-Service attack, making your site load slowly or become unavailable momentarily.

Shared Hosting Security Risk: Limited customisation

Since the hosting is shared, hence there will be fewer customization options available. By customization, we mean having your own DDoS mitigation and website data backup routine.

At Melbourne IT we have DDoS protection on our network and a 7 day backup.

There are also many advantages of shared hosting

We are only discussing cybersecurity risks around shared hosting in this article. To understand more about the advantages and disadvantages of shared hosting read here.

What is Managed VPS Hosting?

Managed VPS Hosting: Owning the hotel

Managed VPS Hosting provides a virtualised server environment with dedicated resources for each user, offering a balance between cost-efficiency and performance. The ‘managed’ aspect refers to the comprehensive support provided by the hosting provider, including security management, software updates, and technical support, ensuring that your server is optimised and secure.

VPS Hosting Cybersecurity: Isolation

Managed VPS hosting addresses many of the security concerns inherent in shared hosting. With dedicated resources, the risk of cross-contamination is significantly reduced. Users have greater control over their server environment, allowing for custom security configurations, software installations, and the implementation of robust security measures.

Managed VPS Hosting Cybersecurity: Melbourne IT’s secure solution

At Melbourne IT, our managed VPS hosting includes advanced security features such as state-of-the-art firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and regular security audits. SSL certificates, also included in our VPS hosting, help secure data in transit, while dedicated IP addresses improve reputation and security. Regular backups and disaster recovery solutions ensure data integrity, and strict access controls can be implemented to safeguard sensitive information.

Additionally, managed services ensure that the server is always up to date with the latest security patches and updates.

Making the Right Hosting Choice for Your Cybersecurity Needs

If security is the one and only factor: VPS Hosting

Although both options are very secure, every day of the week a VPS server is going to be more secure than a shared hosting environment. By hosting your website on a Managed VPS platform, you significantly reduce the risk of security breaches, ensuring a safer online presence for your brand.

As always, there are other considerations:

Technical skills

In general, a VPS server does require more development knowledge to run from the get-go.

At Melbourne IT, your VPS comes pre-installed with cPanel web hosting software and 24×7 Australian helpdesk by default, you have human support and a software interface to manage your websites.

We also provide extra security and redundancy for 100% uptime.