Security updates to keep your Drupal website safe
There can never be too much online safety! Running CMS security updates are a way to put an extra “lock” on your site, and one of key secrets of successful website maintenance. This is true for most CMSs — Drupal, WordPress, Magento, and so on. If you apply to a good support agency for Drupal support or WordPress support, they will definitely run security updates for you as a first step. Today, let’s take a closer look at security updates in Drupal.
Security updates for Drupal website
In terms of security, Drupal has always been ahead of the pack. Security is listed among Drupal’s main benefits and always stays a top priority for the Drupal community.
A good night’s sleep for Drupal website owners is provided by many factors. Among them, the watchful Drupal Security Team, codebase built with security in mind, strict approval procedures for contributed code, a flexible system of roles and permissions on Drupal websites, and much more.
It’s Drupal Security Team that will be the heroes of our story. They keep their hands on the pulse of all possible threats and quickly provide the fixes. In addition, anyone can also contact them and report an issue, which further enhances Drupal protection.
Drupal Security Team regularly post announcements called Security Advisories where they inform everyone about any weaknesses found and the steps they need to take (usually, running the security updates).
These updates must be run — otherwise, potential weaknesses will be the website owner’s own fault.
What is covered by Drupal security updates
Drupal Security Team watches over the Drupal core or contributed modules and themes with stable releases.
Release candidates, alpha, and beta versions are not included. Custom modules and themes, or those developed individually for a particular website, are also not covered by this, so they will need special update procedures.
In addition, outdated Drupal versions (Drupal 6 and lower) are also not getting official updates, so it is best to migrate to Drupal 7 or Drupal 8.
Keep calm and, for all all kinds of updates or migration, always feel free to rely on support agencies. We will manage all cases — from the simple to the complicated.
Ways to know about available Drupal security updates
We will share a couple of ways to be aware about Drupal security updates, keeping the most convenient one “for dessert.”
1) You can discover available updates via your Drupal website admin dashboard. On your administration pages, you will see error messages about the necessary updates. They will invite you to visit the Admin — Reports — Available updates page. You can also check the Admin — Reports — Status page to discover all problems, including the need for security updates.
And, of course, stay informed about the updates by email — just enter your email address in Admin — Reports — Available updates — Settings. You can decide on the notification details (whether you want to be notified daily or weekly, about security updates only or about all the others too, etc.).
2) All Security Advisories from Drupal Security Team are available on their official security advisory page. According the their level of seriousness, all these notices are marked as:
- not critical
- less critical
- moderately critical
- critical
- highly critical
3) You can also follow Drupal Security Team’s official Twitter page with all Security Advisories and related news.
4) It is also possible to subscribe to security updates from your drupal.org account. If you don’t have one, consider creating one. In your account, click “Edit” and then “My newsletters.” Check the “Security announcements” field and that’s it.
5) Here goes the most convenient way to never miss a Drupal update. This one will save you a lot of time, and you will especially appreciate it if you have lots of work to do for your business. No matter if the updates are easy or complex, this option does not require any Drupal skills from you, and always works smoothly and reliably. This option is to entrust regular Drupal updates to a good support team like WishDesk.
Final thoughts
With Drupal security updates, you are on the safe side. And WishDesk Drupal developers are always ready to take care of them for you, as well as discover lots of other ways to secure your website.
Enjoy the safety!